ALFRED — He’s been a cop, a firefighter and owned a nuclear power security company that employed about 500 workers. He’s testified before the U.S. Congress five times.

In 1955, at the height of the Cold War, when the relationship between the United States and the Soviet Union was tense and war seemed possible, Robert “Bob” Bohlmann was the 15-year-old who noticed efforts to staff the local ground observer corps to spot incoming aircraft in his Connecticut hometown was sparse, so he stepped in to remedy the situation.

Within two months, the observer corps was staffed with volunteers 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

“It became the ”˜in’ thing to do,” said Bohlmann, smiling at the memory, as he prepares to retire ”“ more than 50 years later.

In York County and beyond, Bohlmann is known as the go-to guy in an emergency. He and his staff and band of volunteers have been through 18 declared disasters in York County since he took the helm of the agency back in 1994.

He’s that familiar, calming figure reporters interview on television news broadcasts when the surf is pounding the shore out at Camp Ellis or water is flooding roadways and homes in low-lying areas.

Toward the latter part of March, Bohlmann, who has been director of the York County Emergency Management Agency for 15 years, will end his tenure at the agency. He and his wife, Laura, have been married for 49 years, and he’s worn a pager for every one of them.

Earlier this week, he spoke with a reporter about his experiences at the agency and his life in the emergency management field.

He said perhaps the most profound disaster in those 15 years was the 1998 ice storm that wreaked havoc across Maine. Roads were nigh on impassible, and west of Route 202 in York County, electricity was off a few days for some ”“ and three weeks for others. The EMA’s emergency operations center was staffed 24/7 for 21 days.

“You could take the pulse of the people from the phone calls,” said Bohlmann. As the emergency lingered, the tenor of the voices on the phone went from okay to anger and in some cases, to serious mental health issues, Bohlmann said.

Then came Sept. 11, 2001 ”“ an emergency of a different sort.

“That changed the picture of everything,” said Bohlmann. The terrorist attacks meant a return to the old civil defense ways, and Bohlmann recalled one Friday night closing down three small airfields in the county because of the heightened alerts.

 Bohlmann came to the emergency field somewhat naturally ”“ his father had been an air raid warden. After rounding up volunteers to staff the ground observer corps, Bohlmann was asked to be his hometown’s assistant civil defense director, also in 1955, still age 15.

“The director went out of town on vacation and we had a flood,” said Bohlmann. The assistant civil defense director found himself opening shelters, performing evacuations and other disaster-related duties.

Bohlmann was a police officer and a firefighter before he formally entered the security field, where he was a pioneer in writing protection plans for the nuclear power industry. He eventually sold a nuclear security company he’d formed with two others and came to Maine. Bohlmann was assistant fire chief in Wells and twice was acting fire chief.

During his tenure as York County’s EMA chief, he’s also served as the governmental affairs chairman for the International Association of Emergency Managers.

Bohlmann, 70, first said he’d retire at the end of 2010, but was asked to stay on to participate in the interview process and through a transition to a new director.

He said he’s most proud of the corps of volunteers that rallies, along with his staff, during emergencies.

“They just come out of the woodwork,” he said, when disasters happen. “We’re very proud of that.”

York County Commissioners Chairman Sallie Chandler said Bohlmann will be missed.

She said he’s fostered a collaboration of EMA directors from the county’s 29 cities and towns that is second to none.

“I cannot express how grateful we are and have been to have Bob Bohlmann,” she said. “He has been a blessing to all of us.”

Maine Emergency Management Agency Director Robert McAleer said Bohlmann has always been ready to help EMA directors in other Maine counties.

“He has served as a mentor to new county directors, bringing them up to speed on the many and varied programs county EMAs are asked to implement,” said McAleer. “He has also been a provider of good counsel to MEMA staff, delivering a balanced, but always candid perspective on many tough issues. The best testament to Bob is that no matter how serious the emergency, we have never had to be concerned about the quality of the response effort in York County.”

Bohlmann said when the county’s new EMA director is hired, he’ll offer to be a volunteer, and said he plans to continue his part-time stint as a Federal Emergency Management Agency disaster employee.

— Staff Writer Tammy Wells can be contacted at 324-4444 or at twells@journaltribune.com.