John Richmond Brinkerhoff (January 31, 1928 – December 18, 2020) was the associate director for national preparedness of the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

Federal Emergency Management Agency The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS), initially created under President Jimmy Carter by Presidential Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1978 and implemented by two Exec ...

(FEMA) from 1981 to 1983.

Career

Before joining FEMA, Brinkerhoff served as the Department of Defense Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Reserve Affairs. He had graduated from West Point in the Class of 1950 and spent 24 years on active duty in the Army, retiring in 1974 with the rank of Colonel. Brinkerhoff served tours of duty in

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, and

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

while in the service. He joined the Civil Service and was for nine years a career Senior Executive in the Office of the Secretary of Defense and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. After leaving Government in 1983, he became a national security consultant, spending twenty years as an adjunct research staff member of the Institute for Defense Analyses. He was also notable for his role in planning REX-84, along with Lieutenant-Colonel

Oliver North Oliver Laurence North (born October 7, 1943) is an American political commentator, television host, military historian, author, and retired United States Marine Corps lieutenant colonel. A veteran of the Vietnam War, North was a National Sec ...

Education

Brinkerhoff graduated from

Santa Ana High School Santa Ana High School is the oldest and largest high school in Orange County, California, United States. The school was established in 1889. Notable alumni * Daniel Antúnez, soccer player * Barry Asher, professional bowler * Tony Baxter form ...

in Santa Ana, CA in 1946. Brinkerhoff obtained his BS in Engineering from the

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), commonly known as West Point, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York that educates cadets for service as Officer_(armed_forces)#United_States, comm ...

, Class of 1950 and received his MS in Civil Engineering from the

California Institute of Technology The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech) is a private research university in Pasadena, California, United States. The university is responsible for many modern scientific advancements and is among a small group of institutes ...

. He later obtained his MA in Geography from

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

, and an MSA in Operations Research from

George Washington University The George Washington University (GW or GWU) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally-chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Originally named Columbian College, it was chartered in 1821 by ...

Personal life

John Brinkerhoff was born in Ohio in 1928 to Herschel and Florence Brinkerhoff (Cross). He was married twice first to Nancy Anne Burns with whom he had 4 children. The couple later divorced and he remarried to Anne Touchstone, daughter of legendary Army lacrosse coach F. Morris Touchstone. He died in 2020. He was interred at

Arlington National Cemetery Arlington National Cemetery is the largest cemetery in the United States National Cemetery System, one of two maintained by the United States Army. More than 400,000 people are buried in its 639 acres (259 ha) in Arlington County, Virginia. ...

on July 20, 2022. John Brinkerhoff was a descendant of Epke Jacobse Banta and the Banta Family Dynasty.

Books

Brinkerhoff has written countless articles as well as two books.

References

Federal Emergency Management Agency officials 1928 births 2020 deaths People from Ohio {{US-gov-bio-stub

Career

Education

Personal life

Books

See also

References