******
And now it is my pleasure and privilege to introduce to those of
you who do not know him, and to enthusiastically endorse for the 18th
District seat, Shawnee City Councilman Eric Jenkins. I am convinced he will be a truly
accomplished and worthy successor who will work hard and continue the fight for
the economically and socially conservative values and principles that have
informed and inspired my work in the Legislature.
Eric is a 30-year veteran of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Additionally, he is a retired Colonel, US Army Reserves with over 34 years of Active and Reserve service.
During his tenure with FEMA, Eric served in all operational programs of the Agency. He made contributions as a manager and worker in the key areas of preparedness, mitigation and response.
In mitigation, Eric managed the National Flood Insurance Program and FEMA mitigation grant programs. In addition to flood plain management, he managed FEMA Region VII’s National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program and National Dam Safety Program.
In Preparedness, Eric successfully managed the Radiological Emergency Preparedness Program, Hazardous Materials Program, Fire Grant Program, FEMA State grants, and training and exercise programs. Mr. Jenkins chaired the Regional Radiological Assistance Committee.
While assigned to Disaster Response & Recovery Division, Eric served in several capacities. He was Chief of Operations, responsible for the FEMA Region’s response plans, training and regional ops center. He served as Federal Coordinating Officer for two Presidential-declared disasters and served as Deputy or Operations Officer on countless others. In this capacity, Eric delivered the Individual and Public Assistance Programs, Public Affairs, Legislative Affairs, Community Relations and other disaster response activities and programs. Leadership in the Federal response required frequent and close coordination with multiple Federal and State agencies and non-governmental agencies. During his time as Operations Officer and Executive Officer of the Division, Eric chaired the Regional Interagency Steering Committee.
In addition to his Regional Office responsibilities, Eric was an adjunct faculty to the Emergency Management Institute, instructed the Agency’s Customer Service Program and sat on the National Federal Radiological Preparedness Coordinating Committee in Washington, DC.
Eric has had a very complementary military career. He has branch qualification in Infantry, Intelligence, Special Forces and Military Police and is a certified instructor. He commanded a Special Forces A-Team, a Military Police Battalion, served in a number of Intelligence, operations and training positions at all levels of staff and taught Command & General Staff College curricula. He is a graduate of the prestigious US Army War College. Colonel Jenkins’ FEMA background was extremely useful to 5th United States Army while he served as an Emergency Preparedness Liaison Officer to the State of Missouri. In addition, Eric assisted in training the staff and wrote deployment exercises for 5th Army’s newly created civil-military response Task Force Warrior. After completing 30 years of service, COL Jenkins was brought back as a retiree recall for service in Iraq and Afghanistan. He was assigned to Multi-National Force-Iraq Headquarters and the Joint Center for Operations Analysis (JCOA) at US Joint Forces Command. Later assigned by JCOA to the Center for Army Lessons Learned (CALL) at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, COL Jenkins led multiple Lessons Learned teams to various stateside locations, as well as in Germany, Iraq and Afghanistan. After four additional years of active duty, Eric Jenkins again retired in November 2009 to pursue his long-held dream of establishing his own emergency management consulting business.
Locally, Eric has served for 21 years on the Shawnee Planning Commission and in 2011, served on the Johnson County Charter Commission. He lost a close race for Shawnee Mayor two city election cycles ago, and last year won a Ward 2 seat on the Shawnee City Council, where he has been a diligent conservative watchdog on budgetary and spending issues in particular.
Eric is a 30-year veteran of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Additionally, he is a retired Colonel, US Army Reserves with over 34 years of Active and Reserve service.
During his tenure with FEMA, Eric served in all operational programs of the Agency. He made contributions as a manager and worker in the key areas of preparedness, mitigation and response.
In mitigation, Eric managed the National Flood Insurance Program and FEMA mitigation grant programs. In addition to flood plain management, he managed FEMA Region VII’s National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program and National Dam Safety Program.
In Preparedness, Eric successfully managed the Radiological Emergency Preparedness Program, Hazardous Materials Program, Fire Grant Program, FEMA State grants, and training and exercise programs. Mr. Jenkins chaired the Regional Radiological Assistance Committee.
While assigned to Disaster Response & Recovery Division, Eric served in several capacities. He was Chief of Operations, responsible for the FEMA Region’s response plans, training and regional ops center. He served as Federal Coordinating Officer for two Presidential-declared disasters and served as Deputy or Operations Officer on countless others. In this capacity, Eric delivered the Individual and Public Assistance Programs, Public Affairs, Legislative Affairs, Community Relations and other disaster response activities and programs. Leadership in the Federal response required frequent and close coordination with multiple Federal and State agencies and non-governmental agencies. During his time as Operations Officer and Executive Officer of the Division, Eric chaired the Regional Interagency Steering Committee.
In addition to his Regional Office responsibilities, Eric was an adjunct faculty to the Emergency Management Institute, instructed the Agency’s Customer Service Program and sat on the National Federal Radiological Preparedness Coordinating Committee in Washington, DC.
Eric has had a very complementary military career. He has branch qualification in Infantry, Intelligence, Special Forces and Military Police and is a certified instructor. He commanded a Special Forces A-Team, a Military Police Battalion, served in a number of Intelligence, operations and training positions at all levels of staff and taught Command & General Staff College curricula. He is a graduate of the prestigious US Army War College. Colonel Jenkins’ FEMA background was extremely useful to 5th United States Army while he served as an Emergency Preparedness Liaison Officer to the State of Missouri. In addition, Eric assisted in training the staff and wrote deployment exercises for 5th Army’s newly created civil-military response Task Force Warrior. After completing 30 years of service, COL Jenkins was brought back as a retiree recall for service in Iraq and Afghanistan. He was assigned to Multi-National Force-Iraq Headquarters and the Joint Center for Operations Analysis (JCOA) at US Joint Forces Command. Later assigned by JCOA to the Center for Army Lessons Learned (CALL) at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, COL Jenkins led multiple Lessons Learned teams to various stateside locations, as well as in Germany, Iraq and Afghanistan. After four additional years of active duty, Eric Jenkins again retired in November 2009 to pursue his long-held dream of establishing his own emergency management consulting business.
Locally, Eric has served for 21 years on the Shawnee Planning Commission and in 2011, served on the Johnson County Charter Commission. He lost a close race for Shawnee Mayor two city election cycles ago, and last year won a Ward 2 seat on the Shawnee City Council, where he has been a diligent conservative watchdog on budgetary and spending issues in particular.
In his
personal life, Eric is married with five children. He has served his community
of Shawnee, Kansas since 1988 with four years on the Northwest Advisory Board
to the Board of Education and since 1992 on the Planning Commission. He holds a
B.A. from Missouri State University and a M.A. from the University of North
Carolina-Charlotte.
As you
can see, Eric has a most impressive resume of dedicated public service over
many years, and is extremely well qualified to represent the citizens of eastern
Shawnee in the Kansas House of Representatives.
I have no doubt that he will continue the fight for the fiscally and
socially conservative principles and values we both cherish. I commend him to you all, and urge you to
vote for him to succeed me as your 18th District Representative in
the Kansas House.
