Mr. Kim R. Kadesch was appointed as the Director of the Office of National Capital Region Coordination on 12 August 2013. Prior to this appointment, he served for four years as the Executive Officer in the Office of the Associate Administrator for Response and Recovery at FEMA. Mr. Kadesch joined FEMA in 2008 as a member of the Federal Coordinating Officer cadre, assigned to FEMA Region III and has deployed to disasters including flooding in the Northeast and the Midwest, Hurricane Gustav, the 2009 Kentucky ice storm, Hurricane Irene, the east coast earthquake, and most recently Superstorm Sandy.
Prior to joining FEMA, he was on active duty for over thirty years in the United States Army, serving ten years as a Colonel in numerous senior command and staff positions. His Army career consisted of operational assignments in Infantry and Special Operations units where he participated in operations from Urgent Fury to the Global War on Terrorism. That experience included service as a Defense Coordinating Officer in the Pacific theater and as the Operations Officer for the US Pacific Command’s Joint Task Force for Homeland Defense. He commanded units from Company to Brigade level.
Kim earned his Bachelor’s Degree from the United States Military Academy at West Point. He is a graduate of the US Army War College and holds a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from Shippensburg University. His military awards include the Distinguished Service Medal.