Captain W. “Russ” Webster retired from federal service in 2023 following a 46-year career with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Transportation Security Administration, and the United States Coast Guard. Webster served in the Coast Guard for 26 years where he was engaged in or oversaw more than 10,000 search and rescue cases. He was part of a team that developed post-9/11 service-wide anti-terrorist doctrine. He retired from the Coast Guard in 2003.

During his tenure at the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), Webster helped inaugurate two programs which eventually evolved into nationwide initiatives: The Behavioral Detection (anti-terrorist) program for passenger screening, and the use of TSA screeners at other transportation venues.

As FEMA’s New England’s Region 1 Administrator, Captain Webster co-led the federal government’s Northeast COVID operations at the start of the pandemic, coordinating the actions of 22 federal agencies on behalf of six states and ten tribal nations. Upon his retirement from FEMA, Captain Webster was recognized by the Department of Homeland Security with the Secretary’s Outstanding Performance Award. The International Association of Emergency Manager’s has recognized Captain Webster as a Lifetime Certified Emergency Manager.

In his final year of federal service through Spring 2023, Captain Webster spent one academic year at his alma mater teaching emergency management, ethics, atmospherics, and conveyed operational lessons learned to emerging Coast Guard leaders. He is a graduate of the Coast Guard Academy where he was honored as the 2017 Distinguished Alumni. He holds master’s degrees from the Naval War College and the Naval Postgraduate School.