Victor Thies

President and CEO

Victor Thies is President and CEO of Willdan Homeland Solutions (WHS). A retired police commander, he has been involved in law enforcement for over 30 years, 21 years as a police manager for the City of Irvine. Mr. Thies has exceptional experience as a trainer, training program designer, developer, and management specialist, nationally known for his expertise in dealing with management issues involving critical incident management, sexual harassment, discrimination situations, and workplace relations. Mr. Thies is an expert on the National Incident Management System/ Standardized Emergency Management System/ Incident Command System (NIMS/SEMS/ICS) and served on California State committees for training development in disaster response.

Mr. Thies received his Bachelor of Arts in Police Science from California State at Los Angeles and his Master's Degree in Public Communication from Pepperdine University in Malibu, California. Later he received his Police Officers Standards Training (POST) Command College Certificate, and graduated a Dale Carnegie Course in Human Relations. Vic has taught over 3,000 police managers/supervisors throughout California in Critical Incident Management, and over 20,000 people in the prevention of discrimination and harassment in the workplace. He was the Lead Incident Commander for the Nation's first weapons of mass destruction case (Operation Foxboro Recovery 3/2000). He has participated in six POST teleconferences as a subject matter expert in both ICS and Harassment/Discrimination Prevention.

In addition to his active affiliation with numerous professional associations, Mr. Thies has written many articles for professional publications, such as: Training for Experience (CPOA), Incident Command System (911 Magazine), Law Enforcement Incident Command Systems (CPOA), Testing Today's Preparedness for Tomorrow's Disasters (911 Magazine), and Realistic SWAT Training (NTOA Magazine).

Marc Tipermas

Director of National Programs

Mr. Marc Tipermas has spent most of his 30-year career in the professional services industry in a variety of senior executive level business development and operations positions. From 1981 to 1998 he was with ICF Kaiser International, a global consulting, engineering, and program management firm with over 6,000 employees, and was named President and CEO in 1997. More recently he was Senior Vice President for Business Development of Dynamac Corporation, an environmental consulting firm, and has also been an independent business development consultant to several nationwide engineering and consulting firms. Earlier in his career Mr. Tipermas worked at the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and in 1980-81 served as the first Director of EPA's Superfund Policy and Program Management Office.

Mr. Tipermas received an S.B. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and also holds Ph.D. and Master's degrees from Harvard University in political science.

Jim Bailey

Vice President of Training & Exercises

Mr. Bailey has an extensive background designing, developing, conducting, and evaluating preparedness exercises at the Federal, State and local levels. He is intimately familiar with all facets of exercise design and has provided exercise support to over 120 exercises conducted in the Counties of Los Angeles, San Diego, Orange, Riverside and the State of California from 2002-2008. His work in San Diego County resulted in the county’s exercise program selection of “2005 Best In Category” by the National Association of Counties.

He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from The Citadel.

Tom Little

Vice President of Regional Operations

Prior to joining WHS, Tom was the Department Manager of Security, Threat Assessment and Emergency Preparedness for the nation’s 12th largest public transportation agency, the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA). Tom was selected in 2004 to develop this critical senior management position for an organization of over 2,500 employees, 900 public buses and 47 miles of commuter rail right-of-way. He wrote the first OCTA System Security and Emergency Preparedness Plan (SSEPP) based on FTA guidelines. During this tenure, Tom was a member of the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) Committee on Public Safety and represented the OCTA on a security and safety consortium of the nation’s 50 largest public transportation agencies. Each of these affiliations was designed to improve the security, safety and emergency management capability of public transit in the post 9-11 world.

Tom began his public service career in 1974 and worked for 30 years in California municipal law enforcement, including 18 years with the City of Irvine until his retirement in 2003. In 2000, Tom was the detective supervisor who managed the nation's first domestic Weapons of Mass Destruction investigation commonly known as Operation Foxboro. During his service, Tom specialized in field officer training, criminal investigations and emergency preparedness training. Tom received numerous commendations and twice received the annual Irvine Police Department Meritorious Service Award for outstanding accomplishments in supervising complex criminal investigations.

Tom holds a Bachelor's degree in Criminal Justice from Cal State University Los Angeles and a Master's Degree in Public Administration form Cal State University Long Beach. Tom recently received a Graduate Certificate in Transportation Management from the San Jose State University affiliated Mineta Transportation Institute.

Bill Wolf

Director of Program Delivery and Development

Bill Wolf served with the San Diego Police Department (SDPD) for 27 years until his retirement in 2001. During his service, he was the City's Emergency Management Coordinator, reporting to the City Manager. His duties included coordination of disaster preparedness between City departments, and between the City and allied agencies, the public, public education, and management of the City's Emergency Operations Center. During this time he was involved in the coordination of operations in 8 major disasters as well as hundreds of emergency situations. Some of these included the development of emergency plans for such events as the 1984 Olympics, two Super Bowls, the America's Cup Races, the 1996 Republican Convention and BioTech2001. Throughout this tenure he served as the head of the SDPD's Critical Incident Management Unit where he participated on a variety of committees; two of them were the San Diego Anti-Terrorism Early Warning Group and the Operational Area Anti-Terrorism Working group where the Federal Bureau of Investigation commended him for his support to the FBI-San Diego Anti-Terrorism Effort.

Bill received a Bachelor's Degree in Technical Education and a Master's Degree in Computers and Education. He has taught a variety of courses for various levels of management and field level personnel at institutions including California Specialized Training Institute, Federal Emergency Management Institute, Miramar College, San Diego State University, Chapman University, and the San Diego Police Academy. He has conducted a variety of training for supervisors and managers throughout the State of California on the Standardized Emergency Management System (SEMS).

Bill has produced a number of video programs including "Flight 182", "What's Shaking San Diego", "It's A Matter Of Time", and "Haz Mat Spill!" He has also designed several exercises and coordinated two of the largest full-scale disaster exercises held by local government. These exercises involved airliner crashes at San Diego International Airport. He designed Table-top and Functional exercises for the public safety for Super Bowl XXVII. His most recent involvement was the development of a series of ten terrorism/WMD exercises, which included a radiological dispersal device for Los Angeles County. The Series consisted of 6 table-tops, 3 functionals, and a full-scale exercise (which was featured on CNN and Fox News).

John F. Walker
Vice President of Communications and Technology Solutions

John F. Walker supports the delivery of Communication and Technology Solutions to Willdan’s corporate and public safety clients in the local and state and federal markets.  With over thirty-five years of experience in the public safety community, Mr. Walker has expertise in public safety technology implementations and development of strategic communications interoperability plans, project management and governance, interoperable communications, law enforcement operations and management, criminal intelligence, organizational change; and direct experience in Homeland Security and FEMA, implementation of Homeland Security Presidential Directive (HSPD) -8, National Preparedness capabilities-based, all-hazard communication planning and evaluation and Homeland Security Presidential Directive (HSPD) -5, Management of Domestic Incidents, NIMS/ICS implementation and compliance evaluation.

Mr. Walker is an expert in communication interoperability governance and operations processes, implementation of local and regional communication systems and associated National Incident Management System/Incident Command System (NIMS/ICS) requirements.
John has experience as an incident commander, SWAT commander and manager of a large metropolitan Public Safety Answering Point. He was also a Site Manager for the Department of Justice, Office for Domestic Preparedness. In that role, he developed Tactical Interoperability Communication plans for urban metropolitan areas, including five Urban Areas Security Initiative (UASI) regions, one of which was the New Orleans/Orleans Parish area of Louisiana, prior to and after Hurricane Katrina.

Mr. Walker served as the Lead Evaluator for Denver, Colorado and Bismarck, North Dakota UASI regions to evaluate their Homeland Security Tactical Interoperable Communications Plan through functional exercises and has participated, as a governance and operations expert, in the development of interoperability communication assessments, evaluations and strategic plans for large Department of Homeland Security Tier One regions.

Mr. Walker has written several articles for professional publications: Building a Regional Communications Plan (Public Safety IT Magazine, July 2007), Disaster Planning and Recovery; 911 Center Survivability (Public Safety IT Magazine, May 2007), Establishing a Foundation for Project Success (U.S. Department of Justice, ICTAP), UASI Interoperability Best Practices (U.S. Department of Justice, ICTAP) and Tomorrow’s Challenge; Preparing to Manage the Next Disaster (Public Safety IT Magazine, May 2008) and Issue Briefs for the Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services.

He is a member of the International Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials International (APCO) and a life member of the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP).

Mr. Walker received his Master of Arts in Public Administration from the University of South Florida. He also graduated from the FBI National Academy and Police Executive Research Forum’s Senior Management Institute for Police. He holds a DHS Type III Incident Command System Instructor certification.

Lincoln J. Unruh

Manager, Communications and Technology Solutions

Mr. Unruh is involved in telecommunications essential business development, strategic development, program development, technical development, and consulting involving telecommunications primarily for government agencies. Mr. Unruh has 24 years of experience in the research, development, and deployment of critical telecommunications infrastructure and systems. Mr. Unruh currently has over 17,000 hours of Project Management experience within telecommunications projects; clients have included the State of Minnesota, the Los Angeles Regional Tactical Communications System, and the Bay Area Super Urban Area Security Initiative (SUASI).

Mr. Unruh currently holds an active Top Secret clearance. He has also been awarded two U.S. Patents related to a telecommunications system and method intended to solve interoperability within voice and data wireless systems, covering commercial, private terrestrial, and satellite networks. A third patent has been filed.

Armando Rodriguez
Manager, Communications and Technology Solutions

Mr. Armando Rodriguez has over 15 years of public safety radio communications experience with systems ranging from analog conventional to Project 25 trunked digital architectures.  Mr. Rodriguez has experience designing and deploying APCO-16 / Project 25 systems, complex RF Coverage solutions, Microwave Backhaul Networks, Frequency Plans, IP Networks and Mobile Data Subsystems.  Additionally, he has practical experience in Coverage/Functional Testing and Site Design.

He has worked extensively on public safety and transit wireless communications projects for major clients including the County of Riverside CA, County of Orange CA, County of San Diego CA, City of Los Angeles CA, Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transit Authority (LACMTA), Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA), and the Interagency Communication Interoperability System (ICIS).

Mr. Rodriguez received a B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering from California State University at Fullerton and a M.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Southern California.

John J. Eagler
Manager, Communications and Technology Solutions

With over 35 years of experience in the public safety community, Mr. John Eagler has expertise in public safety technologies, implementation of projects and interoperability planning. Mr. Eagler has participated in small city-wide projects to large statewide projects, with responsibilities ranging from project engineer to project manager. He is familiar with APCO Project 25, PMI management guidelines, best engineering practices and the Homeland Security program.

Mr. Eagler served as a lead engineering manager for the statewide 26 Agency Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in which a new TDMA technology was deployed utilizing over 700 radio sites. His role on the project included managing the radio, microwave and site development teams in which a conceptual system design, procurement specifications, vendor negotiations, contract development and project management plans were delivered to the state’s project manager. This digital voice and mobile data system will support over 15,000 radio users and one of the largest utilities in Pennsylvania. In addition, the state-managed system is monitored 24 hours a day from a network operation center which is connected to the system via a digital loop microwave system.

Mr. Eagler has worked on numerous public safety radio systems in California and the San Francisco Bay Area. He is a member of the International Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials International (APCO).

FG Dowden
Manager, Communications and Technology Solutions

FG Dowden supports the delivery of Communications and Technology Solutions for corporate and public safety clients at the local, state and federal level.  His most recent experience includes the technical and operational analysis for Public Safety clients for the development of strategic/ operational plans, development of operational/ functional requirements in support of system procurement procedures and the design of regional communications systems. His expertise includes project management, communication’s interoperability, implementation of regional communications systems, emergency management, grant management, logistics and the National Incident Management System/ Incident Command System (NIMS/ICS).  He has managed the implementation of an APCO compliant, 700/ 800 MHz, trunked regional communications system and was the liaison for the City of New Orleans to the State of Louisiana during response and recovery operations in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.  He developed the Tactical Interoperable Communications Plan (TICP) for New Orleans Urban Area Security Initiative, Region 1 and was the lead planner and Exercise Director for the functional exercise in support of the TICP.

Mr. Dowden is a graduate of Louisiana Tech, attended the Defense Systems Management College, is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) and is NIMS/ ICS qualified. He is a member of the International Association of Public Safety Communications Officials (APCO), Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association (AFCEA), and the Project Management Institute (PMI). He retired from the U.S. Marine Corps with thirty one years of active service.

Steve Friday

Manager, Communications and Technology Solutions

Mr. Friday supports the delivery of Communications and Technology Solutions for corporate and public safety clients at the local, state and federal level. He has over 29 years of law enforcement experience and has consulted for local, state, federal, and international clients, providing technical and operational analysis in the development of strategic/ operational/functional plans. His project management experience includes the Ohio State Highway Patrol’s implementation of the state’s 800 MHz Multi Agency Radio Communications System (MARCS), which required both technology and change management solution development and implementation. His most recent consultant experience was subject matter expert for the California CalSIEC, Southern Planning Area effort to provide an analysis of current Tactical Interoperability Communication Plans (TICP) for the 11 Operational Areas within the Southern Planning Area (SPA) and assist the UASI and Operational Areas in updating their TICP.

Other consulting experience includes project manager for the State of Minnesota Department of Public Safety to study and develop a strategy for the integration of the state’s IP Network and microwave radio network. He consulted for the largest Middle Eastern country, serving as project lead for a capabilities assessment of the country’s emergency operations centers and emergency alert warning systems. This project included the development of specifications and change management strategies for implementing countrywide improved emergency call center operations to complement a newly implemented country-wide Tetra radio system.

Mr. Friday was a Trooper in the Ohio State Highway Patrol for 29 years.  At retirement, he commanded the Office of Technology and Communication and held the rank of Major. In this position he was the State of Ohio’s liaison to state agencies, the federal government, and local agency officials for matters relating to communications, information sharing, and technology. He served as the Chairperson for the Ohio Law Enforcement Data System, the primary public safety secure data network for Ohio and its connection to NCIC-CJIS. As LEADS chair, Mr. Friday was responsible for Ohio compliance to FBI CJIS policies. Prior to Commanding the Technology and Communication Office, he was in Command of the Planning and Research Section, where his responsibilities included the development and maintenance of the Division’s 5-year strategic plan and the ongoing development and maintenance of Division and Department of Public Safety Policies and Procedures. In addition to his executive management experience, he served as a field commander responsible for delivery of public safety services at the local and regional level in Ohio.

Mr. Friday holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Bluffton in Organizational Management, an Associate degree in Law Enforcement Technology from the North Central Technical College and has completed the University of Louisville [College of Criminal Justice] Administrative Officers Course for Police Administrator Development. He is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP), a member of the International Association of Public Safety Communications Officials (APCO), International Association of Chiefs of Police, and the Project Management Institute (PMI).

John Porter

Director of Federal Training and Exercise

John Porter, Director of the Federal Training and Exercise branch, is leading efforts to develop business and managing a series of projects at the Federal level. He is currently leading two exercise programs under DHS FEMA’s National Exercise Program: the Terrorism Prevention Exercise Program and the Regional Exercise Support Program, for both of which WHS is a subcontractor to CRA, a nationally recognized firm.

Wendy Kleinman

Regional Manager

Wendy Kleinman is a Regional Manager with WHS and is located in our Phoenix, Arizona office. Prior to joining the team she worked as a contractor for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for 5 years providing exercise support to State and local jurisdictions. She is an expert in the instruction and delivery of Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program (HSEEP) activities including exercise design, conduct and evaluation. Wendy has provided exercise support to jurisdictions throughout the country and the territories of American Samoa, Guam and the Northern Marianas Islands.

She is a lead instructor for the HSEEP mobile training course due to numerous years of first hand knowledge and experience utilizing this methodology.

Wendy also has a strong and varied background in Public Health that allows her to provide expertise in emergency response planning, training and exercises focused on pandemic influenza, Strategic National Stockpile, CHEMPACK, Points of Dispensing, and the Hospital Preparedness Program. She previously worked as a Health Educator at the Arizona Department of Health Services where she provided training during the initial implementation of Bioterrorism Preparedness Grants. 

Wendy earned her Master of Public Health (MPH) from the University of Arizona specializing in Health Education. She also holds a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and Health Education from the University of Arizona.

Russ Sutter

Senior Training Manager

Russ Sutter has served the Anaheim Police Department since 1985 as an Investigator and Police Sergeant, and since his retirement in 2005, as a Civilian Investigator. Prior to that he was a Newport Beach Police Department police officer for ten years. His work experience includes: Police Helicopter Pilot, Investigations, Supervisor of Vice Detail, Major Narcotics Detail, Safe Schools Detail, and Resort Policing Team; Instructor at O.C.S.O. Academy; and a Developer of the Safe Schools program for City of Anaheim School Districts.

Russ holds an Administration of Justice A.A. degree from Golden West College, was a graduate from the Los Angeles Police Academy, and has continued to attend training classes ranging from Internal Affairs Investigation to Juvenile Law/Education Code.

Denise Davis

Senior Planner

Denise brings over twenty years of emergency management experience to Willdan Homeland Solutions. Ms. Davis worked locally for a law enforcement agency and conducted training, wrote emergency plans, and coordinated the emergency operations center. Denise is an instructor for numerous law enforcement and emergency management courses and also teaches an emergency management class at the Golden West Criminal Justice Center Police Academy. Denise will be writing many types of emergency plans for our clients as well as being a Team Member for Willdan Homeland Solutions on other projects.

Mike Hooper

Senior Planner

Mike comes to WHS with experience supporting federal, state and local governments in developing complex, multi-agency, multi-disciplinary weapons of mass destruction (WMD) exercises, including tabletop (TTX), functional (FE), and full-scale exercises (FSEs). Mike’s training and experience covers a broad spectrum of emergency management, emergency preparedness, and security protocols. His current responsibilities include all aspects of exercise and training project design and support. He received training in emergency planning, emergency management, and hazardous materials (HAZMAT) response. Mike previously served with the Riverside County Fire Department and is a trained Emergency Medical Technician - Basic (EMT-B).

Alberto Martinez

Analyst

Alberto has 3 years experience in all-hazards homeland security and emergency management preparedness and training exercises.  Mr. Martinez currently works for Willdan Homeland Solutions as a Homeland Security Exercise Analyst. Alberto assists the Willdan Homeland Solutions team in designing, developing, conducting, facilitating and evaluating both operations based and discussion based exercises for Federal, state, and local agencies under the Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program (HSEEP).  Mr. Martinez is also currently completing his certification in criminal and intelligence analysis with the Orange County Sheriff’s Department.

Patricia Magallanes

Administrative Assistant

Prior to joining WHS, Patricia worked for Ablestik Laboratories, where she served as a liaison between the company's outside sales force and the on-site Production, R&D, Marketing, and Engineering departments. In addition to her many office skills, she is also fluent in Spanish and has worked in bilingual customer service. Patricia graduated from Devry University with a Bachelor of Science in Telecommunications Management.

Shadi Kia

Administrative Assistant

Prior to joining WHS, Shadi worked for its sister company, Willdan Geotechnical, and Willdan Group Corporate Relations. In addition to her exceptional administrative skills Shadi is an adept conference and tradeshow planner. Shadi is currently working on obtaining her Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration at California State University, Fullerton.

Mariana Arrazola

Administrative Assistant

Mariana joined the WHS team in June of 2008. She comes to us with a background in hotel hospitality, customer services, and teaching. She is attending the California State University of Long Beach working towards her bachelor’s degree in Liberal Studies.