by Brandon Pollachek, PEO IEW&S
ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. (June 4, 2021)—A change of responsibility and retirement ceremony conducted virtually on May 26, marked the closing of an era that lasted 29 years for an officer whose work touched virtually every Soldier in the Army.
During the pair of virtual ceremonies hosted by Lt. Gen. Robert Marion, principal military deputy to the assistant secretary of the Army (acquisition, logistics and technology) and director of the Army Acquisition Corps, Brig. Gen. Michael Sloane, Program Executive Officer for Intelligence, Electronic Warfare & Sensors (PEO IEW&S), passed the responsibility for the organization to Mark Kitz who will serve as the PEO.
As he bid farewell to active duty service, Sloane, a former Logistics officer and longtime acquisition leader, reflected on the role the Army has played in his life. “The Army has been our family for nearly 30 years,” said Sloane. He reflected on his father’s additional 31 years as an Infantryman and said, “I will always remember his commitment to our nation and my mom’s unwavering support to him and our Army.” He noted that he and his family have moved more than 20 times during his career and he is forever grateful for the support of his wife Debbie and son Beau.
FAMILY PORTRAIT: Sloane, his wife, Debbie, and son, Beau, pose for a quick picture after the retirement ceremony in May. (Photo courtesy of PEO IEW&S)
Sloane cut his teeth in the Army serving as a Logistics officer supporting mechanized infantry and light infantry divisions, including deployments in support of Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, Honduras, Hurricane Andrew Relief Operations, Bosnia and several other overseas trips to Afghanistan, Iraq, Qatar and Kuwait as an acquisition officer. Following a four-year break of service to explore the business world, which included owning his own company, Sloane returned to the Army.
Honing in on his interest in business as well as utilizing his operational experience, Sloane transitioned to the Acquisition Corps. He used his education—he earned an MBA and an M.S.— on his path ahead. During his tenure within the Acquisition career field, he has served in key roles ranging from Assistant Product Manager for THAAD Missile Development and System Level Test Integration to product and project manager at PEO Soldier, a stint serving as the chief of staff for ASA(ALT), assistant PEO at Enterprise Information Systems and then served twice as a PEO, for both Simulation, Training and Instrumentation as well as IEW&S.
In this final assignment, Sloane was charged with leading the PEO IEW&S team— made up of more than 1,100 team members—and its extremely diversified portfolio of more than 100 programs that support a wide range of organizations throughout the Army, as well as joint and coalition partners. With multiple portfolios under one umbrella, PEO IEW&S is involved in space; force protection; intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR); cyber; electronic warfare; mission command; aviation and fires.
Sloane, who arrived and led the PEO team throughout the COVID pandemic, shared his thoughts on the perseverance of the organization. “It has been my pleasure to work with so many great PEO team members and I have come to see you all as ’masked crusaders’ getting the hard work done no matter the environment. Behind the masks we wore throughout the entirety of my tenure as PEO, you have been adaptable, persistent and always put our warfighters first.”
For Sloane’s next chapter, he will be joining the Countermeasures Acceleration Group (CAG), formerly known as Warp Speed. He said he is joining the CAG to continue a career of service to our nation and to “ensure the phenomenal work started and achieved by Gen. Gustave Perna, retired Lt. Gen. Paul Ostrowski, retired Lt. Gen. Giovanni Tuck and the entire Operation Warp Speed team continues into the future until the mission is completed, to address additional vaccinations for adolescents and pediatrics, therapeutics, booster shot development, as well as provide potential world-wide support to people in need around the globe, if assigned that mission.”
Kitz steps into the role as PEO after serving as the deputy PEO for the organization. Prior to his current assignment, Kitz was chief of systems engineering, also at PEO IEW&S.
To watch the retirement ceremony in full, go to DVIDS – Video – Our friend and family member Brig. Gen. Michael Sloane Retires (dvidshub.net)
