Military Senior Advisor, Ministry of Peshmerga, Iraq
BG Ismail started out his career in 1995 as a training officer at the Dohuk fighting school - MoP / Kurdistan region, before moving to the 9th division of MoP/ Erbil. By 1999 he was the Company commander in the 1st Special Brigade in Soran / Erbil and became the Company commander in the 1st New Iraqi Army Battalion in Baquba in 2003. By 2006 he was the Battalion commander in the 1st BN – 8th BDE 2nd Iraqi Division in Mosul and is now the Director of Coordination & Relations at the MoP.
He has been responsible for training thousands of Peshmerga officers and soldiers and participated in the freedom operation of Iraq with Peshmerga and the Coalition forces in 2003. He took part in the building of the first new Iraqi army battalion under supervision of Coalition forces in 2003 and has assisted the members of the negotiation committee Iraqi Kurdistan side, with the Iraqi Federal Government.
Dr. Schoske serves as Chief, Diagnostics, and Detection Division for the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA), Research and Development Directorate, Chemical Biological Technologies Department (RD-CB). In this capacity Dr. Schoske overseas and manages an $90 million Research and Development Portfolio. This portfolio includes projects in the areas of medical diagnostics, and chemical and biological agent detection.
His educational background is in Biochemistry, Chemistry and Clinical Laboratory Sciences. He has applied this knowledge in operational work experiences involving the development and deployment of novel medical diagnostic systems for the United States Air Force. Dr. Schoske has an extensive background in counter Chemical-Biological Consequence Management Planning. Prior to joining the DTRA, Dr. Schoske served in the United States Air Force for 21 years and is a retired Lieutenant Colonel. During his time on active duty he served in numerous capacities including Chief, of a Medical Laboratory, Assistant Professor of Chemistry at the United States Air Force Academy, Principal Investigator in Diagnostic R&D, and Emergency Medical Planning. He was selected as a Senior Air Force Laboratory Fellow for Science and Technology and is an American Society of Clinical Pathologists Certified Medical Technologist. He earned a Master’s of Arts in Biochemistry from the University of Scranton, and a PhD in Chemistry from American University in Washington DC
Dr. Scott Hartley is the CEO of Proengin Inc. which develops and manufactures chemical and biological detection systems. In this role, Dr. Hartley is responsible leading and directing Proengin operations in North American. Proengin is a leader in flame spectroscopy technology which is able to quickly and precisely identify key materials found in chemical warfare agents, precursor materials, binary agents, fourth generation agents as well as many toxic industrial chemicals. This technology is also able to identify key biological materials found in toxins, bacteria and spores. Proengin technology has been adopted for use in over 72 countries and is used for military, first responder, HAZMAT, chemical and security applications.
Prior to joining Proengin, Dr. Hartley was served in various Business Development roles for BAE Systems/Armor Holdings where he worked on personal protective equipment and combat vehicles. He also previously worked at Gentex Corporation where he held various engineering, program management and general management roles. Dr. Hartley holds BS degrees in Mechanical Engineering and Mathematics from Cedarville University, dual MBA’s in Finance and Operations Management from the University of Scranton, and a Doctorate of Management degree in Technology Systems Management from the University of Maryland. He holds 11 patents and serves on the Board of Directors for the Warrior Protection and Readiness Coalition.
Dr Warnecke is an accomplished Public Health, Health care Administration, Emergency Management, and Education professional with extensive experience and broad academic training. Proficient in developing and leading training courses in wide variety of disaster and emergency response in hospital and public health management. She has a background in medicine and is highly knowledgeable in risk assessment and incident command.
She has worked at IB3 Global Solutions for the past three years as a CBRN Consultant, including being a member of their CBRN toxic survey team and deployed to Mosul. Dr Warnecke has also worked at Walden University for 11 years as aContributing Faculty Member for Public Policy and Administration, teaching a variety of courses including: Terrorism: Legislation and Policies; Homeland Security Policies and Emergency Preparedness, Planning, and Leadership. She has also been an instructor at CDP for 16 years specialising in a variety of healthcare, pan-flu and mass casualty modules. Prior to this she worked as a Member of Working Group at HHS/DHS on public health Target Capability List, worked for the FL Department of Health for two years as their Regional Public Health Preparedness Coordinator, during which time she was in charge of population shelters for people with functional needs during five hurricanes and designed and presented forensic epidemiology training.
She was also an instructor at Florida College of Natural Health, a Business Management Consultant at North Shore Pain Management Center, a Clinical Manager at the Office of Dr Alan Seymour and Chief of the Pediatric Unit at Vilnius Public Health Center. She got a MA in Public Administration from Walden University, an Executive MBA for Physicians in Health Care & Hospital Administration from University of South Florida and her Medical doctorate from Vilnius State University.
Colonel (Ret) Jeff Brodeur retired from the US Army as the Assistant Commandant for the Chemical-Biological-Radiological-Nuclear (CBRN) Schoolhouse and Regiment. Following retirement, he entered private industry as a senior CBRN technical advisor providing direct support to Departments of Defense, Energy, Homeland Security, and State. In 2018 Jeff led a CBRN team in Iraq providing toxic chemical surveys in facilities recently displaced by ISIS to allow industry and families to repopulate. Mr. Brodeur is an internationally recognized CBRN expert with conference keynote speaker and panel member experience in Brazil, USA, Canada, and Iraq.
From September 2012 to September 2019, he worked in the laboratory of the Organisation for the Prohibition of chemical Weapons (OPCW) – from July 2017 to September 2019 as the Head of Laboratory. His responsibilities, among others, included general guidance for all research activities, the conduct of the OPCW’s Proficiency Testing program, the lab’s quality system under ISO 17025 and ISO 17043, the initial planning phase of the new Center for Chemistry and Technology and in 2018 he was team leader for the OPCW’s missions to Salisbury and Amesbury following the poisoning of Sergej Skripal and his daughter Yulia.
From 2006 to 2010 he conducted contract R&D work in the area of CBRN defense. Main work was carried out at the Bundeswehr Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology in Munich on the development of an enzymatic skin decontaminant. From 2010 to 2012 he was a Director’s Fellow at Los Alamos National Laboratory (NM, USA) continuing work on enzymes-based systems for CW detoxification.
Dr Blum holds a German master’s degree equivalent in chemistry from the Technical University of Braunschweig and a Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of Frankfurt. The topic of his work was the nerve agent degrading enzyme DFPase from squid. In 2008 he finished an additional master’s degree (M.A.) in “War in the modern world” at the department of War Studies – King’s College London. Since 1 November 2020 Dr Blum is a Visiting Fellow at the Centre for Science and Security Studies (CSSS), Department of War Studies, King’s College, London and is now providing consultancy services the in the field of analysis, countermeasures, decontamination and mitigation of chemical warfare agents with more than 15 years of experience.
He holds the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the Bundeswehr Reserve (NBC troops) and his current assignment is with the German DoD in the unit for arms control, disarmament and non-proliferation.
Larry Clymer is the Chief of Special Operations for the Nashville Fire Department. He started his career as a firefighter in 1988, and has spent the last 20 years involved with the Special Operations Division. Commander Clymer is a state of Tennessee certified Hazardous Materials Specialist and a TEEX certified Urban Search and Rescue Specialist. He is a member of the area Maritime Security Committee and co-chair of the Nashville Fire Department’s Health and Safety Committee. He serves as Chair of the Tennessee Technical Rescue/Special Operations Technical Advisory Committee on Swiftwater Rescue credentialing and as a committee member for the Urban Search and Rescue credentialing. Currently serving as the Chief of Special Operations, Commander Clymer manages the Hazardous Materials, Technical Rescue, Marine/Swiftwater, and Homeland Security/Domestic Preparedness programs for the Nashville Fire Department, as well as oversees the regional Tennessee Task Force 2 Urban Search and Rescue Team. He has led the Tennessee Task Force 2 team to multiple incidents including Hurricanes Delta, Dorian, Florence, and Sally. He serves a vital role in the planning, including planning hazmat response, for events including New Year’s Eve and July 4th in Nashville and was instrumental in the planning for the multi-day 2019 NFL Draft. Having been the Incident Commander for the Nashville Tornado in 2020 the Nashville Christmas Bombing in 2020, he provides a unique insight into the operations and coordination of large incidents.
Dr. Bilal Nsouli was born in Beirut in 1965. He obtained a MSc in Analytical Chemistry and a Ph.D in Nuclear and Analytical Sciences in 1995 from the Institute of Nuclear Physics of Lyon. He joined the Lebanese Atomic Energy Commission (LAEC) - CNRS in 1998 as associate researcher in the laboratory of ion beam analysis. He published more than 120 articles in peer reviewed international journals. Now Dr. Nsouli is the General Director of the Lebanese Atomic Energy Commission. In 2011, under the UNESCO- international year of chemistry competition, he obtained the first prize of the best published article in chemistry in Lebanon. In 2013, he received the CNRS Award of Research Excellence. Dr. Nsouli is the National Liaison Officer between Lebanon and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the Scientific Advisor of the Lebanese Permanent Mission in Vienna. In 2018, he appointed to be attached to the Prime Minister Office as Head of the National Commission for Implementing Lebanon’s International Obligations Related to CBRN Materials and WMD.
Commander ABC-Abwehrkommando (CBRN Defense Command) of the Bundeswehr
He joined the German Armed Forces’ Armoured Corps in 1979, commissioned as a 1st Lieutenant in 1982 and transferred in 1986 from Armoured to the CBRN Defence Corps, which was followed by assignments as Company Commander, CBRN Staff Officer at various HQ levels and Commanding Officer of a CBRN Battalion from 2001 to 2004. His first multinational assignment was in 1993 at HQ Allied Mobile Force (Land) in Heidelberg, followed by assignments as a CBRN Staff Officer at HQ Allied Forces Central Europe in Brunssum and a tour of duty at HQ ACT in Norfolk, Virginia, USA. 2002-2003 saw mission assignments as UN Military Staff in New York, field missions in the Middle East and finally, in 2013, as CJ3/ CJ7 at HQ NATO Training Mission Afghanistan in Kabul. From 2007 – 2009 he was Chief of the CBRN Defence Concept Section at the German NBC Defence and Self-Protection School in Sonthofen, followed by the assignment Head of the Combat and Concept Development Division from 2009 - 2012. November 2013 to October 2014 he was Deputy and Chief of Staff of the German Joint CBRN Defence Command in Bruchsal and from November 2014 to September 2018 Commandant of the school in Sonthofen.He has been in his current post since September 2018.
G.B. Jones is currently Director of Investigations and Security Services – International & Special Events for the National Football League.
He is responsible for managing investigations, special event and gameday security, and fan conduct programs for the NFL's international markets, including the International Series Games in London and Mexico City. Prior to joining the NFL, Mr. Jones was Vice President and Chief Security Officer for Terra Vigilis Security Group, a specialized security company with emphasis on aerial security, counter-drone operations, and integrated security solutions. He retired from the FBI in May 2019 after nearly 23 years of service and was a sworn law enforcement officer for more than 31 years with experience as a municipal police officer, deputy sheriff, Minnesota State Trooper, and FBI Agent.
As ASAC Mr. Jones managed the criminal, counterterrorism, counterintelligence, intelligence, cyber, administrative, and training programs throughout the state of Wisconsin. He also commanded the crisis management teams, including the SWAT Team, Special Agent Bomb Technicians, WMD program and Evidence Response Team. Mr. Jones served as the FBI's On-Scene Commander during the interagency response to three separate mass shooting events. In 2008, he deployed to Baghdad, Iraq, as the FBI’s Deputy On-Scene Commander for counterterrorism operations. He served as the Unit Chief of the Special Events Management Unit at FBI Headquarters, where he directed counterterrorism preparedness programs related to special event security, aviation security, and maritime security.
Benjamin M. Barksdale, Jr. resides as the 20th Fire Chief of the Orlando Fire Department. Chief Barksdale began his role as the newly appointed Fire Chief in November 2019, overseeing the day-to-day operations of the department and serving as chief counsel to the Mayor on matters of public safety. Prior to coming to Orlando, Barksdale served as the Fire Chief of Prince George’s County, Maryland, where he led more than 2,500 personnel, including sworn and volunteer firefighters. He began his firefighting career in 1987 with the Arlington County Fire Department in Virginia where he rose to the rank of Assistant Chief, and was also one of the initial responders at the Pentagon in response to the attacks on September 11, 2001. During Chief Barksdale’s tenure, his agency was dedicated to ensuring firefighters have access to mental health programs and treatment and had a strong track record of overseeing initiatives to encourage opportunities for people from all backgrounds in fire service.
Aaron Rhodes is a 24 year veteran of the fire service and currently serves as the Special Operations District Chief with the Orlando Fire Department. Aaron has an A.S. degree in fire science. Aaron began instructing in 2002 and teaches for the Fire Department Training Network, Eastern Florida State College Fire Academy and Valencia School of Public Safety. Aaron is a board member and hands-on training coordinator for the Orlando Fire Conference and serves as a member of the Florida U.S.A.R. Task Force 4. Aaron serves as a fire service representative to the Regional Domestic Security Task Force and is a member of the state focus group for Planning, Prevention and Response.
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