New Administrator for Our FEMA Region

President Obama appointed Ken Murphy as the new Administrator for Region 10 of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) yesterday.  The FEMA Region 10 office serves Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Alaska and is located in Bothell, Washington.    

Ken Murphy is a familiar name to many of us here in the Pacific Northwest because he has been the director of the Oregon Office of Emergency Management since 1999. 

Ken also served on the Oregon Homeland Security Council, Oregon's State Interoperability Executive Council, the Governor's Search and Rescue Policy Commission, and the Governor's Recovery Cabinet, as well as on FEMA's National Advisory Council. Murphy oversaw the response and recovery for six Presidential and eight Gubernatorial disasters declarations in Oregon.

Murphy spent nearly three decades as a member of the Oregon Army National Guard, in traditional and active duty. During that time, he served as Director of Military Support to Civilian Authorities, where he was responsible for the Guard's coordination and response to emergencies. He also was Chief of the U.S. Army's European Crisis Action Team in Heidelberg, Germany, where he managed and coordinated military emergency response throughout Europe.

Murphy is a past President of the National Emergency Management Association (NEMA). He is a graduate of Concordia University, the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College and the Naval Post Graduate School.