Professional Experience
Ray has over 30 years of experience in the fire service. After being promoted through the ranks, Ray retired from the Orland Fire Protection District in 2014 as an Administrative Battalion Chief, where, at various times, he was responsible for all Bureaus of Operations and Administration. He also served for two years as the Fire Chief, with responsibility for protecting a 32 square mile area with a nighttime population of 85,000 residents.
Since his 2014 retirement, Ray has served as a safety consultant, providing strategic planning, safety assessment, and training program development services. He currently serves at the Homeland Security Branch Chief for the Illinois Mutual Aid Box Alarm System (MABAS) and is assigned to the Cook County Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management. In this position, Ray is responsible for providing support to the Fire Intelligence Liaison Officers throughout Illinois.
Ray was the founding member of the MABAS Statewide Hazardous Materials Steering Committee and served as the Statewide Hazardous Materials Program Coordinator for the Illinois Fire Service Institute. He has also served as a Subject Matter Expert for hazardous materials training content developed by the International Association of Firefighters and provided testimony to the U.S. Occupational Health and Safety Administration in regards to hazardous materials training regulations.
Ray has over 25 years of experience teaching fire science, emergency management, and homeland security coursework at the college level. He has taught the Incident Response to Terrorism course for New Mexico Technical University and the Emergency Response to Terrorism: Emergency Medical Services course for the National Fire Academy.
Education and Training
Ray earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Fire Science Management for Southern Illinois University and a Master of Arts in Security Studies from the Naval Postgraduate School.
Ray has also obtained certification as an Illinois Professional Emergency Manager and Illinois Fire Chief Officer.
Committees and Professional Organizations
Ray has served on the Illinois Terrorism Task Force’s Crisis Prevention and Response Commit-tee, the International Association of Fire Chiefs Program Planning Committee, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Consumer Product Safety Commission, and the Gas Research Institute’s National Carbon Monoxide Task Force.
Awards and Accomplishments
Ray is the 2008 recipient of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Exceptional Service in the Public Trust award, the Illinois State Police’s 2002 Leadership award, and numerous merit and performance awards from the Orland Fire Protection District.
Published Work
Ray is the author of “The Missing Link of Unified Command” published by Homeland Protection Professional, 2004 and master’s thesis “Homeland Security Collaboration: Catch Phrase or Preeminent Organizational Construct?” published by the Defense Technical Information Center, 2009.