Search Newsroom

Oklahoma City (April 7, 2010) - The Oklahoma Office of Homeland Security (OKOHS) is pleased to announce that Oklahoma Homeland Security Director Kerry Pettingill has been named to the National Preparedness Task Force by U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano.


Comprised of 35 members of local, state, and tribal governments, the Task Force is a council of experts charged with assessing the state of the nation's disaster preparedness and making recommendations to Secretary Napolitano about ways to build resiliency in communities across America. The Task Force will also engage Congressional partners, as well as the private sector and non-governmental and development organizations through a variety of outreach activities. The group is expected to deliver its recommendations in September 2010.


Director Pettingill brings to the Task Force a wealth of experience in public safety including a distinguished career in law enforcement of almost 30 years. He was appointed to his position as Oklahoma Homeland Security Director by Governor Brad Henry in January 2004 and is one of the longest serving state Homeland Security Advisor's in the nation. A longtime advocate for community and individual preparedness, his commitment only strengthened after being one of the first on the scene at the Oklahoma City Bombing.


Pettingill's accomplishments as Oklahoma Homeland Security Director include creating a Regional Response System; building an interoperable radio system; enhancing prevention and information sharing efforts; training and exercising responders; and most recently, launching the statewide emergency preparedness campaign Red Dirt Ready.


More about the Preparedness Task Force:

The Conference Report accompanying the 2010 DHS Appropriations Act called for a Task Force responsible for making recommendations for all levels of government regarding: disaster and emergency guidance and policy; federal grants; and federal requirements with an emphasis on identifying preparedness policies, guidelines and grant programs that should be updated and recommending paths forward to improve the nation's collective capabilities for preparing for disasters.


For a complete list of Task Force members, visit www.dhs.gov.



About OKOHS

The Oklahoma Office of Homeland Security (OKOHS) is the State Administrative Agency (SAA) for U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funding. To date, the State of Oklahoma has been awarded more than $171 million in DHS grant funding.  

###