By Shawn Nesaw, PEO IEW&S Public Affairs Specialist

At a Change of Responsibility ceremony held in Myer Auditorium at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland on June 29, Mark Kitz passed the torch of leadership of the Program Executive Office – Intelligence, Electronic Warfare and Sensors (PEO IEW&S) to Brig. Gen. Ed Barker who served as Deputy PEO prior to this change.

During the ceremony, Kitz thanked the many mentors, leaders and co-workers who helped him rise through the ranks at PEO IEW&S where he started in 2009 as an engineer for Intel and Electronics, ultimately taking the helm in 2021 as PEO.

“Throughout my career, I’ve had amazing leaders and mentors who have guided me and given me the encouragement I needed to take those big steps into leadership roles,” Kitz said. “I can’t thank them enough.”

During Kitz’ tenure as PEO, IEW&S led the growth and maturation of several programs including Mounted Assured PNT (MAPS), Dismounted Assured PNT (DAPS) and 3rd Generation Forward Looking Infrared which all achieved milestone C. Other programs making significant progress include Tactical Intelligence Targeting Access Node (TITAN) to support deep sensing capabilities and the Terrestrial Layer System (TLS) family of systems which will offer an ability to perform signals intelligence, and cyber operations on one platform.

A new initiative the organization launched named Project Linchpin, is a collaborative effort using Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) as a solution that synchronizes and integrates intelligence, cyber, situational awareness/situational understanding and electronic warfare sensor systems within the IEW&S portfolio. “Project Linchpin is a huge opportunity for growth, transformation and collaboration,” Kitz remarked.  

IEW&S was thrust into the global spotlight during America’s withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021. The organization had to remove 1000 contractors and billions of dollars of equipment in just 45 days. PEO IEW&S’ work and support providing force protection to Soldiers in Afghanistan was a big part of the organization’s identity and a large part of the workforce took pride in the mission.

Simultaneously while exiting Afghanistan, PEO IEW&S also had to call upon its biometrics programs to quickly set up biometric collection kiosks and stations with the State Department so that Afghan refugees could be cleared to exit the country.

Following the redeployment from Afghanistan, PEO IEW&S shifted its portfolio from one type of fight to another, focusing on electronic warfare and the electromagnetic spectrum which has become an area where American adversaries are making significant investments.

“We had to pivot our PEO from direct Soldier support in Afghanistan to supporting future Army modernization toward multidomain operations,” Kitz said. “It was a challenge, but our workforce took it in stride.”

“The situation in Ukraine has really taught us a lot about how fighting in the future is going to look,” Kitz explained. “We’re seeing how they are protecting their combat platforms and how they are conducting electronic warfare in a very dynamic environment. We’re observing and those lessons are making their way back into our programs like Terrestrial Layer System and Multi-Function Electronic Warfare-Air Large.”

Of all the accomplishments though, Kitz reflected on the fact that the IEW&S team is where he feels the most pride and gratitude.

“Our team is the best around,” Kitz said. “We’ve built the best place to work and have such a strong culture that when it came time to work together to practically move mountains, we did.”

“I was just steering the ship, but it was the teams who were accomplishing the things that we did, so the thing I’m most proud of in my tenure is being fortunate enough to have led PEO IEW&S,” Kitz remarked. “I feel like we’ve fostered this environment that people really want to come to work and a place that has a lot of pride in the mission. We have a strong, positive culture that is inclusive and prioritizes people. I talked about building the best place to work in the Army with all of our PMs and I think we successfully did that. I’m proud that I had a small part to play in building this really positive culture here.”

As for the future of PEO IEW&S, Kitz rests assured it’s in good hands with the incoming leadership who can capitalize on the significant opportunities on the horizon.

“I think this is absolutely the right team and the right people and the right culture to get after those really complicated problems for the future of the Army.”

For Kitz’ next mission, he will lead Program Executive Office Command, Control and Communications-Tactical (PEO C3T) as PEO, helping the organization carry on its mission of delivering a unified network to the Army.

Kitz’ replacement, Barker, is no stranger to PEO IEW&S, as he steps into the role as PEO after serving as the deputy PEO for the organization. Prior to his position at the PEO, he served as the Chief of Staff to the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology (ASAALT), in addition to key leadership roles with PEO Enterprise Information Systems and PEO Solider.