LOS ANGELES, July 15, 2014 - Team Rubicon, a disaster relief organization which unites the skills of military veterans with first responders, has appointed David Burke as its director of field operations. He replaces Vince Moffitt, who will take on a new role as incident management team chief. Burke is a 2003 graduate of Bettendorf High School, and his family resides in Davenport.
"I am excited and humbled by this opportunity to take on more as we scale TR's capabilities to help an even greater number of people affected by disasters, while giving veterans a renewed sense of purpose," said Burke, a veteran Marine officer. "I'm also very grateful for the mentoring I've received from Vince and look forward to helping him build out our incident management teams."
Burke has served as deputy director of field operations since April. He came to Team Rubicon as an AmeriCorps VISTA to volunteer with the programs team, Oct. 2013. When Typhoon Haiyan hit the Philippines, he moved into field operations and helped manage the response. In Dec. 2013, Burke joined the staff as senior field operations associate.
"David has done a tremendous job as my deputy and has shown his potential to make this next step," said Moffitt. "I have complete confidence in him to continue the direction already set, as well as take it to the next level."
As director of field operations, Burke will develop and execute the strategy to train, prepare and respond to domestic and international disasters. He will be responsible for establishing and maintaining strong working relationships with counterparts in various federal agencies and voluntary organizations participating in emergency response operations.
Headquartered in Los Angeles, Team Rubicon enlists volunteers from across the country. The nonprofit has experienced explosive growth?from a team of eight to more than 16,000 members?since its founding in 2010.
Because TR's ability to respond to any disaster depends on the commitment of these volunteers, Burke will be tasked with managing development of divisional, regional, and state competencies, to include response plans, and incident specific, standard operating procedures.
"In a short-period of time, David has shown himself to be a passionate, proven leader," said Jake Wood, CEO and cofounder of Team Rubicon. "He has the vision necessary to take Team Rubicon to the next tier as we look to not only grow our capabilities, but afford our members the training, tools and mentorship needed to perform our mission."
Team Rubicon was founded in the wake of the 2010 Haiti Earthquake by Wood and William McNulty, both Marine veterans. It now has more than 60 operations under its belt, including Haiti, Superstorm Sandy, and Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines.
The nonprofit has already responded to more than a dozen tornadoes and floods this year. Beyond disaster relief, Team Rubicon helps veterans find a renewed sense of purpose?vital as many return to civilian life after more than a decade of war.
While in the Marines, Burke served as a logistics officer and deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq. He was awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal, for meritorious service while serving in leadership roles above his pay grade, including executive officer of Headquarters Battalion, 2nd Marine Division Forward, Camp Leatherneck Afghanistan, in 2011.
Burke holds a bachelor's degree in business administration from the University of Iowa. He currently resides in El Segundo, Calif., with his wife Amanda, also a Marine veteran and member of Team Rubicon.
To learn more about Team Rubicon's mission, visit www.teamrubiconusa.org.
About Team Rubicon Team Rubicon (TR) unites the skills and experience of military veterans with first responders to rapidly deploy emergency response teams. TR offers veterans a chance to continue their service by helping and empowering those afflicted by disasters, and also themselves. For more about Team Rubicon, visit www.teamrubiconusa.org.
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