Captain W. Russell Webster

Captain Webster retired from a 46-year federal career in 2023 with the US Coast Guard, TSA and FEMA. As the Group Woods Hole Coast Guard commander, he directed his service's incident operations for the 1999 JFK Jr and Egypt Air flight 990 air crashes. In 2001, he was the Coast Guard Northeast District Chief of operations after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

In 2003, he joined TSA at Logan Airport, Boston, where he co-founded two programs that were Nationalized; the Behavioral Detection Program and the screening of passengers at transportation venues other than airports (VIPR). In his first assignment with FEMA Region 1 (Northeast), he was FEMA's initial incident commander for the 2013 Marathon Bombings. In 2019, he became the FEMA Region 1 Administrator for the COVID-19 Pandemic.

He has taught emergency management and homeland security at three colleges and universities. He has two master's degrees from the Naval War College and the Naval Postgraduate School. He is a contemporary maritime author of Coast Guard history. Webster lives in Plymouth Massachusetts with his wife and coauthor Theresa.