JOHN P. PACZKOWSKI, Senior Vice President

As Senior Vice President at CRA, John Paczkowski provides executive leadership and management oversight for homeland security and emergency management consulting services to Federal, State, and local governments, the U.S. military, and the private sector.  Prior to joining CRA, John worked for the Port Authority of NY and NJ holding various executive positions in planning, policy and operations.  He managed the agency’s emergency operations center following the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center and, in late 2001, was named Director, Emergency Management and Security, where he was responsible for critical infrastructure protection and emergency readiness programs for the Authority’s aviation, transit, tunnel and bridge, and maritime cargo facilities.

While at the Port Authority, John supervised comprehensive security assessments of all agency facilities, implemented new security and emergency management practices and technologies, supervised consequence management and business continuity plans for the Authority’s corporate headquarters and line businesses, and spearheaded several national-level homeland security projects with various DHS agencies.  These included a security risk management program, a WMD countermeasures test bed program, a regional radiological detection and interdiction pilot project, and a regional information sharing and collaboration effort.  He was the chief architect for a $500 million risk-based security investment program and his office administered about $200 million in Federal homeland security assistance during his tenure.  In September of 2005, he led a Port Authority team that assisted the City of New Orleans in reestablishing incident command and continuity of government less than a week after Hurricane Katrina struck that city. 

A leader in homeland security affairs in the New York metropolitan region, John was a principal on the New York City UASI region executive committee, a member of the FEMA Region II Administrator’s Regional Advisory Council, and a member of the DHS State, Local, Tribal, and Territorial Government Coordinating Council.  He was the Port Authority’s representative to the New York and New Jersey State Offices of Homeland Security and to various DHS agencies.  A member of the American Society of Industrial Security (ASIS) and the International Association of Emergency Managers (IAEM), John also serves as a member of the Board of Directors and Executive Vice President of the Security Analysis and Risk Management Association (SARMA).

In 2005, John retired as a Colonel with 33 years of active and reserve service in the U.S. Marine Corps as both an infantry and combat engineer officer.  At the end of his military career, he provided senior leadership in a variety of homeland defense and security roles to include being the initiator of the Marine Corps Emergency Preparedness Liaison Officer Program and Chief of the Civil Support Division at the National Guard Bureau.  John is a graduate of the Marine Corps Command and Staff College, and his military awards include the Legion of Merit Medal.

John holds a BS in Industrial Engineering and an MS in Engineering Management from the New Jersey Institute of Technology, an MA in Organizational Psychology from Columbia University, and an MA in Security Studies from the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS), with a concentration in Homeland Defense and Security.  In 2007, he received the prestigious Butch Straub Award for leadership and academic excellence from the NPS Center for Homeland Defense and Security.