By Staff
Former disaster-response leader held state post in West Virginia
By NIKIE MAYO
News Editor
A retired Army lieutenant colonel and former disaster-response leader from West Virginia has been named as Beaufort County’s next emergency management coordinator — all because he decided to follow a girl home.
John Pack Jr., the former director of West Virginia’s Office of Emergency Services, has been tapped to fill the Beaufort County position that has been vacant since December. And although he’s “used to hills and valleys,” Beaufort County is familiar to him.
Pack was among the host of emergency responders who came to eastern North Carolina to help clean up the aftermath of Hurricane Floyd in September 1999.
His wife, Stacey Briley Pack, is a native of Washington.
Pack, 56, has served as an animal-control officer for Beaufort County for the past seven months. Though Pack’s contract as emergency management coordinator takes effect Monday, he isn’t expected to step into the role full-time until he wraps up his animal-control duties some time in July.
In his new capacity, Pack will draw an annual salary of $38,000. He replaces George Sullivan, who was fired in December after being convicted of making a threatening telephone call to a minor.
Asked what is first on his to-do list, Pack didn’t blink.
Pack says he’ll lean on his military training during times of crisis. He served a combined 25 years in the Army and the West Virginia National Guard. He is a veteran of Operation Desert Storm.
County Manager Paul Spruill said Pack’s “very specialized experience in the emergency-management field” made him stand out from other job candidates.