Jan 17 - 2017, Are You Ready? -  Aaron R. Kenneston, CEM

Aaron is the Director of the Washoe County Division of Emergency Management and Homeland Security.  He works at the Regional Emergency Operations Center (REOC) in Reno, NV.  His responsibilities include leading the Washoe County region (50 different agencies and jurisdictions) in planning, training, responding, mitigating, and recovering from all hazards.

Mr. Kenneston served on active duty in the Army National Guard for almost 25 years and retired as a Colonel.  During his career in the military he performed many emergency management roles.  He responded to floods, fire, civil unrest, Y2K activities, State-level security events, as well as search and rescues.  As Nevada’s military support officer he was a member of the State Search and Rescue Board, worked closely with the Division of Emergency Management (DEM), and ran a military Emergency Operations Center (EOC).

As the Washoe County Emergency Manager he has also served during many declared emergencies- the Andrew Fire in 2004, the Snow Emergency of January 2005, the Katrina Evacuation of 2005, the New Year’s Flood in 2006, the Hawken Fire of 2007, the Air Race Emergency of 2011, the Caughlin Fire of 2011, Washoe Drive Fire of 2012, the Washoe Fires of 2016, and the Flooding of 2017.   He has also planned, coordinated, and participated in several major disaster exercises with Regional agencies and jurisdictions. 

He is the Project Director for Nevada’s Disaster Recovery  Initiative, serves on the Local Emergency Preparedness Committee, and has worked on several special Task Forces for the State Homeland Security Commission.

Aaron has Doctorate in Organizational Leadership, two Masters Degrees, and is a graduate of numerous emergency management courses taught by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Department of Homeland Security such as the National Emergency Management Executive Academy.  He serves as Associate Faculty for University of Phoenix.  He is also a member of the International Association of Emergency Managers, serves as an assessor for the national Emergency Management Accreditation Program (EMAP), and is a Certified Emergency Manager (CEM).