The Potomac Institute for Policy Studies is pleased to announce that Jamie Barnett, Jr., RDML USNR (Ret.) has been named Senior Vice President of Academic Programs and Research. RDML Barnett recently completed an Intergovernmental Personnel Assignment as Chief of the Federal Communications Commission's Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau (PSHSB). He previously served as a Senior Research Fellow of the Institute.

Commenting on the appointment, Institute Chairman and CEO Michael Swetnam said, "The Institute is honored and privileged to have RDML Barnett return after a very successful tour with the FCC.  His leadership and experience are greatly needed.  I am personally very happy to welcome him home."

RDML Barnett added, "Potomac Institute is well positioned and staffed to address the technology and policy of some of the most difficult issues facing the Nation, such as cybersecurity, supply chain security, public safety communications and the rise of peer competitors.  It is really exciting to be back as part of the Potomac Institute team."


At the FCC, RDML Barnett was active in promoting cybersecurity initiatives and advancing emergency communications capabilities, including seminal work on the public safety broadband network. He created the Cybersecurity and Communications Reliability Division within PSHSB which achieved significant results in March, 2012 when the Division’s Communications Security, Reliability and Interoperability Council (CSRIC) announced three voluntary cybersecurity measures for Internet service providers (ISP), including a new ISP Code of Conduct to reduce botnets, implementation best practices for securing the Domain Name System, and creating a authoritative registry for Internet addresses to reduce Internet route hijacking.  Moreover, he worked to get ISPs to adopt the three measures that will cover almost 90% of all American Internet users.  RDML Barnett proposed   the first nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System, which was conducted on November 9, 2011, and he laid the groundwork for a Next Generation 911 system.

During his Navy career, RDML Barnett's service focused on the Middle East and Africa. His first deployment to the region was aboard USS JONAS INGRAM (DD-938) in 1977. He served as Executive Officer of the Military Sealift Command Office in Ad Dammam, Saudi Arabia during OPERATION DESERT SHIELD/DESERT STORM, and then commanded Military Sealift Command units dedicated to the North and South Persian Gulf areas.  Later active duty assignments included Acting Deputy Director of Expeditionary Warfare and Acting Deputy Director of Surface Warfare on the staff of the Chief of Naval Operations. His last active duty assignment was Deputy Commander of the Navy Expeditionary Combat Command in Little Creek, Virginia, which provides leadership of Explosive Ordnance Disposal, the Seabees, Naval Coastal Warfare, Mobile Diving and Salvage, Maritime Expeditionary Security Forces and Riverine Forces.

In 2001, then-Captain Barnett was assigned the role of change manager and project lead in the Navy’s Revolution in Training (Task Force EXCEL), chartered to revolutionize the Navy’s training establishment. He played a leadership role in designing the new training organization, including the Navy Personnel Development Command, the Center for Naval Leadership and the Human Performance Center. He was subsequently given command of the Center for Personal Development. He was awarded the first of four Legion of Merit medals for his work there. RDML Barnett has also served on the Board of Advisors for the Naval Postgraduate School.

In civilian life, RDML Barnett has advised and represented thousands of governmental officials and entities as an attorney, in the board room and in state and federal court during eighteen years of private practice. He is on the Executive Advisory Council for Mission: Readiness, a nonprofit, non-partisan organization led by senior retired military leaders dedicated to the early childhood education, development and nutrition of American youth as a matter of national security.

RDML Barnett received his Juris Doctor from the University of Mississippi School of Law in 1984, where he was named the Dean Parham Williams Outstanding Student and served as Chairman of the Moot Court Board.