Photo by Doug Koontz Cpl. Mark Landahl is supervisor of the Homeland Security Section of the Frederick County Sheriff's Office. Landahl has been gathering enough computer equipment for the agency to use in case of emergency.

As supervisor of the Frederick County Sheriff's Office Homeland Security Section, Landahl has the agency's operations in the palm of his hand.

Since February 2004 when former Sheriff Jim Hagy gave him the task of creating the agency's Homeland Security Section, Landahl has been gathering portable computer equipment for use in emergencies.

Kept inside a 3-foot-by-2-foot waterproof case, the equipment can be used in a pinch to maintain sheriff's office operations.

The equipment allows the agency to continue to function effectively in the event of a disaster or if operations must move from the law enforcement center into the field.

The items were paid for with federal Homeland Security funding.

Landahl wasted no time immersing himself in his assignment.

In 2006, he earned a master's degree in Homeland Security studies from the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School's Center for Homeland Defense and Security in Monterey, Calif.

Three months ago, he received the certified emergency manager credential from the International Association of Emergency Managers -- the highest professional designation available from the association in Falls Church, Va.

Landahl assumed his post about three years into his law enforcement career. He joined the sheriff's office in August 2001.

Previously a social studies teacher at Windsor Knolls Middle School, Landahl, like most deputies, started on patrol. In 2003, he became a school resource officer at Urbana High School.

That assignment was a good fit -- many of the teens at Urbana had been his students at Windsor Knolls, so he was familiar with the players.

This spring, one of those students, Anthony Reggio, became a deputy himself, graduating from the sheriff's office academy.

"That's what makes me feel old," the 34-year-old Landahl said with a laugh.

But not for long. Father to daughters Casey, 4, and Abbey, 18 months, Landahl and his wife, Charlotte, get daily doses of youthful exuberance.

No doubt the girls get their energy from their father.

In the past month, Landahl has participated in a project with the Department of Homeland Security in Orlando, Fla., and addressed a gathering of the National Sheriff's Association in Indianapolis.

"I guess you can say I don't sleep much," he said.

An adjunct faculty member at the University of Maryland University College teaching courses in the new Homeland Security major, Landahl this fall will be a student at the school himself.

On Saturday, he was notified he had been accepted in the doctoral program in management. "The letter just came in the mail," he said.