Latest top tier hire: directly from the Pentagon to Portland Public Schools

Last month, without much fanfare, Portland Public Schools hired a new Senior Director of Communications, Freddie A. Mack. An email and a tweet announcing the new hire went out to all staff and the community, stating that Mack will "direct strategic and tactical message development and guide all communication efforts, including print and digital media, social media, and all forms of internal and external messaging." 

The announcement by Chief of Staff, Jonathan Garcia, continued: 

"Freddie brings nearly three decades of experience working in the top ranks of government institutions. Most recently, he served as Deputy Special Assistant for Public Affairs for the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. Freddie also served at the United States Department of Agriculture as Deputy Director for Legislative and Public Affairs for Rural Development.

This came after a distinguished 20-year career in the U.S. Army in a variety of command and staff positions, starting as a platoon leader and ending as a spokesman for the Army. He retired as a Lieutenant Colonel.

He earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of South Carolina and a Master of Military Operational Arts and Sciences from the Air University. He received his Executive Education from Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government and the Federal Executive Institute."

The news was sent more than a month ago, yet the district's organizational chart has yet to be updated with Freddie A. Mack's name, as it currently shows that the Senior Director of Communications position remains vacant. Unlike his colleagues, Mr. Mack has no phone number listed yet on the PPS Communication's team webpage. 

Reading over Mr. Mack's past experience, questions may arise regarding the reason for why Portland Public Schools would place a former Pentagon man in charge of a public school district's communications. What information campaigns will Mr. Mack be spearheading that match the caliber and scope of his expertise? 

Besides the email by Garcia and a couple of articles and videos dating back to Freddie A. Mack's stint as Commander of the American Forces Network in Iraq, and a short-lived Twitter account with only six tweets from 2012, Mack has very little public presence on the internet. 

Soon after Mack was hired by PPS, his LinkedIn profile which detailed his professional career disappeared from view. There, he was described as a "self-directed and driven communications professional with comprehensive accomplishments leading public affairs, media relations, strategy, change management and cross-functional teams to promote success and achieve goals/objectives." Highlighted among his successes were: his ability to manage multi-million dollar budgets, lead operations/logistics, and lend "insights to notable stakeholders within the U.S. government & military." His expertise section listed fields such as public affairs, brand development, messaging, crisis communications, budget forecasting, change management, and reputation management. 

Of special note is his experience conceptualizing and rebranding Operation New Dawn, the phase following the official end to Operation Iraqi Freedom, during which "U.S. servicemembers serving in Iraq (conducted) stability operations, focusing on advising, assisting and training Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) . . . as the Departments of Defense and State work together with governmental and non-governmental agencies to help build Iraq's civil capacity." During this transition, Mack held the position of Director of Public Affairs and Strategic Communications at the US Embassy in Baghdad. In this capacity he developed messaging and synchronized "communications plans with the United States Embassy, Baghdad, CENTCOM, The Joint Staff, the Office of the Secretary of Defense, and the Department of State to ensure messages were aligned and effective." 

Following his post as part of Operation New Dawn, Mack relocated to Washington DC where he worked as a Weapons, Environment & Technology Team Chief. He was responsible for civilians who "monitored media, identified sensitive political topics and provided immediate Army level responses to emerging international and national media stories."

His most recent position was that of Deputy Special Assistant for Public Affairs to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in the Pentagon, which he secured in October 2018 during the Trump presidency.  As such, Mack provided "critical analysis and media advice to the Chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff and Joint Staff Directorates in support of global strategic messages." Among other duties, he also managed relationships and acted "as a liaison with national and international news media."

Is it that Portland Public Schools is considering some rebranding in light of the recent audit by Oregon Secretary of State Shemia Fagan and Oregon Audits Division Audits Director Kip Memmott? Maybe some "reputation management" is needed after the district's shocking severance of federal oversight of the Indian Education Program, or the recently announced $1.8 million cut from already short-staffed PPS special education services. Perhaps some strategic messaging will soon come out to stifle the criticism of a new weighted staffing formula that is resulting in the elimination of scores of educators who support the already underserved English language learners. Could it be that some glossy PR may be sought after following PPS decision to cut at least 120 teachers despite adequate levels of funding the district is currently receiving? Maybe some crisis management expertise may come in handy when parents come to understand the depth of the staffing crisis affecting PPS custodians, which is so dire that custodial staff have no time to sanitize bathrooms for weeks at a time. It is also possible that the district is arming itself with military grade experts ahead of the upcoming contract negotiations with Portland Association of Teachers amid a wave of teacher strikes nationwide.

Only time will tell how the expertise of Freddie A. Mack, who did make his physical appearance at the February 22 School Board meeting, will be deployed by PPS.