FACILITY MANAGER SELECTED FOR OUTER BANKS GROUP

Date: May 12, 2011
Contact: Outer Banks Group, 252-473-2111

The National Park Service (NPS) is pleased to announce that John Kowlok was recently selected as the new Facility Manager for the Outer Banks Group, which includes Cape Hatteras National Seashore, Wright Brothers National Memorial, and Fort Raleigh National Historic Site.

Kowlok is currently the Chief of Facility Management at Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore in Indiana and has over 26 years of experience maintaining and operating facilities, roads, and trails. He served in the Navy Seabee's for five years at various locations in the U.S. and around the world. He then began his civil service career as a carpenter and later as an engineering technician at the Naval Weapons Station in Goose Creek, SC before transferring to Fort Hood, TX as the Deputy Chief of Maintenance.

"John Kowlok is the right person for this position and will be a great addition to the NPS family at the Outer Banks," said Deputy Superintendent Darrell Echols. "He has extensive experience in managing a complex maintenance program and has outstanding project and personnel management skills.  We are very excited to have him as our new Facility Management Manager."

John, his wife Susie, and their youngest son and 7^th grade honor student Rhett will be traveling to the Outer Banks in early June 2011. "My family and I are very anxious to be a part of the Outer Banks team. I look forward to working with the outstanding park employees and community members to preserve park resources and provide a quality visitor experience to our many visitors.  Having lived in Virginia Beach and visited the units of the Outer Banks Group of national parks as a teen, I am excited to be able to serve some of the nation's treasured landscapes and the National Park Service."