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 (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

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 Exe ...

(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 ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republi ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

, and

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making it ...

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 Rex 84, short for Readiness Exercise 1984, was a classified scenario and drill developed by the United States federal government to detain large numbers of United States citizens deemed to be " national security threats" in the event that the presi ...

, 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 * Original members of the surf band The Chantays * Barry Asher, professional bowler * ...

Santa Ana, CA Santa Ana () is the second most populous city and the county seat of Orange County, California. Located in the Greater Los Angeles region of Southern California, the city's population was 310,227 at the 2020 census, making Santa Ana the 13th-m ...

in 1946. Brinkerhoff obtained his BS in Engineering from the

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known Metonymy, metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a f ...

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

California Institute of Technology The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech or CIT)The university itself only spells its short form as "Caltech"; the institution considers other spellings such a"Cal Tech" and "CalTech" incorrect. The institute is also occasional ...

. He later obtained his MA in Geography from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manha ...

, and an MSA in Operations Research from

George Washington University , mottoeng = "God is Our Trust" , established = , type = Private federally chartered research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.8 billion (2022) , presi ...

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 lacrosse coach

F. Morris Touchstone Francis Morris Touchstone (October 2, 1897 – November 7, 1957) was an American lacrosse coach. He served for 29 years as the head coach for the United States Military Academy's men's lacrosse team and is their all-time winningest coach by numb ...

, whom survived him at the time of his death. He died in 2020 of complications from Parkinsons Disease. He was interned at

Arlington National Cemetery Arlington National Cemetery is one of two national cemeteries run by the United States Army. Nearly 400,000 people are buried in its 639 acres (259 ha) in Arlington, Virginia. There are about 30 funerals conducted on weekdays and 7 held on Sa ...

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

Further resources