Maj. Rob Yusko, director of operations for the Civil Air Patrol Rocky Mountain Region, has been named the 2025 Volunteer Emergency Manager of the Year by the International Association of Emergency Managers. This award is the highest national honor presented to a volunteer in the field of emergency management and disaster response.
Maj. Rob Yusko
Yusko received the recognition during the IAEM Annual Conference held Nov. 14 to 20 in Louisville, Kentucky. His award was one of four presented to Civil Air Patrol during the event.
National Recognition for Emergency Service Leadership
According to the IAEM nomination, “Maj. Yusko directed the emergency services operations of his statewide, 2,160-member volunteer organization. In these duties he wore a number of hats, as he served as a ‘badged’ 24/7 on-call member of both the operations staff in Colorado’s State Emergency Operations Center and Colorado Air National Guard-Joint Operations Center, augmenting the Air Operations Branch of the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Region 8 Regional Response Coordination Center in Denver, and also serving as a commander on the five-state CAP Rocky Mountain Region Unified Command – Incident Management Team.”
Yusko’s responsibilities placed him across multiple emergency response platforms, from statewide coordination centers to regional and federal support roles. His work involved participation in numerous training events, large-scale exercises, and real-world disaster operations.
Disaster Response, Search and Rescue, and Training Support
Yusko supported major winter storm response, multi-day search and rescue missions, and several missing aircraft and missing person operations. He periodically served as an incident commander during training and real-world emergencies.
He also served as the lead Incident Management Team trainer for the Rocky Mountain Region during the 2024 two-part, seven-day Wasatch Range and Salt Lake City simulated 7.0 earthquake response exercise. In 2025 he supported a 10-day joint FEMA and Civil Air Patrol disaster response and terrorism exercise.
Yusko’s leadership contributed to the region’s selection for the CAP-U.S. Air Force 2025 Disaster Relief Award. In mid-November he continued service as a Civil Air Patrol agency representative in the FEMA Region 8 Response Coordination Center in Denver during a large-scale, multi-state flood and tornado outbreak exercise.
Additional Civil Air Patrol Honors at IAEM
Civil Air Patrol received three other national IAEM awards during the conference:
Operation Pulse Lift, recipient of the Business and Private Sector Integration and Public Sector Partnership Award
National Emergency Services Academy Mobile Training Team (NESA-MTT), recipient of the Emergency Management Education and Training Program of the Year Award
Col. Todd Canale, recipient of the Uniformed Services Emergency Manager of the Year Award. Canale is a former CAP-USAF officer and now serves as a NESA-MTT instructor and Headquarters First Air Force emergency preparedness officer.
Col. Carol Lynn accepted the award presented to the National Emergency Services Academy Mobile Training Team
Lt. Col. Valerie Moczgembia represented Operation Pulse Lift at the IAEM Annual Conference
