Anniston Star
March 4, 2003

Baughman prepares for EMA reins

By Jason Landers
Star Staff Writer
03-04-2003

Things have a way of working out for Bruce Baughman, even in rough times.

Baughman worked for the Federal Emergency Management Agency as director of the Office of National Preparedness. It is a position he assumed on an interim basis in June 2001, a few months before the World Trade Center towers fell and life unexpectedly changed for everyone. He officially became director of the office in January of the following year.

Sept. 11 placed new priority on preparedness. It was a time when experts were needed, and Baughman's name was one of a dozen in the upper echelons of the agency.

In addition to being well liked in Washington, Baughman exudes a refined confidence that comes with 27 years on the job. He speaks deliberately, in reassuring tones. It is the voice a reason he developed from holding key management positions on more than 75 federally declared disasters and emergencies.

He had seen extraordinary disasters and acts of hate: the Oklahoma City bombing, hurricanes that ripped south Florida, floods in the Midwest, the Pentagon, a field in Pennsylvania, the towers.

Following Sept. 11, first responders and public health officials everywhere were crying for federal assistance, and Baughman was doling out the federal grants.

Knowledge of terrorism had not been part of the exit exam at most medical, police, paramedic and fire schools. Educating responders about how to react to a terrorist event had high priority.

But then tragedy struck. His wife, Carolyn, got a call that her mother was ill. The news brought an end to her stay in Washington. She would move back home and care for her mother. And now Baughman has the chance to follow close behind. The Baughmans will celebrate their anniversary this year; they anticipate celebrating it together.

From Washington to Montgomery

The state's Emergency Management Agency admittedly were not ready for an accident at the Anniston Army Depot, where more than 2,200 tons of deadly nerve and blister agent spring small leaks in the rockets, mines and mortars stored there.

State EMA officials had been warning the federal government that the community was not equipped for disaster.

Things worked out. Carolyn grew up near Mobile and Washington County. Riley was looking for a man to fill the state's top emergency management position. He was looking for an expert.

As 3rd District congressman, Riley had dealt first hand with the federal government about the preparedness issue and sent out feelers to see if Baughman was interested in heading Alabama's emergency management efforts.

The timing couldn't have been better. Baughman needed a job in Alabama and Alabama needed an expert. Officials say it was a good fit.

"When I discovered his willingness to accept the post, I knew, right then and there, Alabama had its next EMA director," Riley said.

Baughman met with Riley.

"I immediately liked him," said the veteran emergency management official. "I like the way he talked and the ideas he had."

It will be eight months before Baughman becomes director of the state EMA. In the meantime, he remains with FEMA, on loan to the state until he is eligible for federal retirement.

What does this mean for disaster preparedness efforts in Anniston and Calhoun County? According to Baughman, it is one of the state's top priorities.

Until very recently, county emergency management officials communicated to FEMA with harsh words. They viewed the agency and the Army as hindering local emergency efforts.

Here, being prepared means citizens have protective hoods, home sheltering kits, indoor air re-circulation filters. It means having a full-time fire department equipped for a chemical disaster, a good siren system that the Army will sound if an accident occurs, some additional precautions for the elderly and disabled. And it means all schools downwind from a potential plume could withstand a direct hit. Right now, the region has almost none of these things. But officials from Washington to Anniston agree they're coming.

Baughman accepts the local definition of preparedness, and says it has always been the definition FEMA accepted. Some may question the assertion in light of the numerous funding delays.

On the subject of preparedness

For more than a decade, the Army, which oversees the chemical weapons incinerator, has said the startup of the burning operation is not connected with preparing the community for an accident at the adjoining stockpile. That changed in recent weeks when the new director of an Army program that controls chemical demilitarization linked the two.

Before the policy shift, FEMA officials typically deferred all inquiries on the subject to the Army.

"There is no question about it though," Baughman said. "We feel there is a linkage there. In FEMA's mind it has always been linked."

Local officials say they like what they hear from Baughman.

"He's impressed me by taking the roadblocks out of the way," said Mike Burney, county Emergency Management Agency director. Bureaucratic roadblocks in Washington were stalling millions of promised federal dollars from reaching the county. In the last few weeks the money has begun to trickle in.

Burney attributes much of the turnaround to Baughman.

"He has the contacts and experience when dealing with the process," Burney said. "We certainly want to take advantage of his knowledge of the procedures and who to deal with at the Washington level."

But the biggest improvement since Baughman accepted the state position, according to Burney, has been improved communication.

"He is a man who listens," Burney said.

In many areas Baughman and local officials agree. One of them is the definition of maximum protection. It is a nebulous phrase that officials have interpreted to mean just about anything. For Baughman, it means "what the community feels will offer the greatest degree of collective protection for the community."

Baughman hopes to establish preparedness benchmarks that the state and county can reach before startup begins. He plans to streamline the preparedness program and expedite grant assistance.

"I want to make sure that we get the best bang for the buck when we get that money down to the counties," Baughman said, speaking partially as a FEMA official, partially as the state's lead emergency advisor. "And we are expediting getting that money down there."

The money to purchase almost all the county's emergency items, including protective hoods, arrived in late February.

"His talents have taken him to the very top of the Federal Emergency Management Agency," Gov. Riley said. "Alabamians are truly lucky to have his experience and abilities on call in times of need."

Most with ties to the preparedness program agree: Things have a way of working themselves out.