On March 30, the Overseas Security Advisory Council (OSAC) Riga and AmCham held a Crisis Emergency Management Exercise (CME) with speakers from he U.S. Government (USG) and private sector at the premises of the U.S. Embassy Riga.

The importance of being prepared cannot be overemphasized. When a crisis or disaster strikes, an organization will only have time to use the tools already at its disposal; there will not be time to create a new infrastructure.

It is therefore essential that individuals examine how different types of crises might affect the section and its normal duties in advance of a crisis. U.S. embassies around the world conduct the CMEs every year to work through various emergencies, identify problems, update procedures, better understand everyone’s responsibilities, and confirm their contacts and resources available are up to date.  

A presenter from the USG Robert Fagan, representative of the U.S. Department of State Foreign Service Institute Crisis Management ran the CME. AmCham representative from the private sector Michael  Thiessmeier representing National AI and Cybersecurity ISAO shared real-world responses. 

About the Speakers:
Robert Fagan, Crisis Management Trainer, Foreign Service Institute, U.S. State Department
Robert  “Rob” holds a master’s degrees in international relations, international business, strategic intelligence, and national security studies. He is a Certified Emergency Manager with the International Association of Emergency Managers.

Prior to working with the U.S. State Department, Rob spent 30 years in the U.S. Army retiring at the rank of Colonel with combat deployments in Panama, Kosovo, and Iraq. During his military service he was assigned to seven different U.S. Embassies in various capacities, deployed with the United Nations on the border with Ecuador and Peru and led humanitarian and disaster relief operations for several natural disasters. Today, in addition to his professional emergency management position, he his passionate about individual and family emergency preparedness and serves his community on boards and instructor positions pertaining to public health, community emergency preparedness, and first responder training. 

Michael Thiessmeier, Executive Director of the U.S. NAIC ISAO
Michael is a distinguished security expert with over two decades of experience in cybersecurity and emerging technologies.  He is the Co-founder and Executive Director of the US National AI and Cybersecurity ISAO and a Silicon Valley CISO. He has completed executive education programs at MIT, Harvard, Cornell, and Stanford. 

He holds over 30 internationally recognized industry certifications, including ISC2 CISO Leadership, ITIL Expert, 6Sigma Blackbelt, FEMA Incident Command, Certified Counter Threat Intelligence Analyst, and Certified Human Trafficking Investigator.

Michael has served as Delegate Expert on the U.S. national delegation to the International Standards Organization and as a volunteer on working groups of the United Nations and the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology. 

He has contributed to more than 40 international cybersecurity standards, and his work has received numerous awards, including the Lawrence D. Eicher Award for excellence in technology. 

In his free time, Michael volunteered as Program Manager for Team Rubicon, a U.S. disaster response organization that combines the skills of veterans, law enforcement, and medical practitioners to respond to disasters worldwide.

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