Kitz to succeed Potts at US Army battlefield communications office

WASHINGTON — A new leader is coming to a U.S. Army office tasked with developing, deploying and supporting battlefield communications gear.

Mark Kitz was on June 23 named the next program executive officer for command, control and communications-tactical, or PEO C3T, at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland. He will succeed Maj. Gen. Anthony Potts, who took the post last year. Exactly what Potts, formerly of PEO Soldier, will do next is not clear.

Kitz comes from the Program Executive Office for Intelligence, Electronic Warfare and Sensors, or PEO IEW&S. He spent years there, including a little more than two as the boss. Kitz is expected to leave IEW&S by the end of the month.

In his old position, Kitz oversaw a wide-ranging portfolio that touched everything from the Multi-Function Electronic Warfare-Air Large, an aerial jamming pod, to tools used to capture, store, share and display biometric data. In his new role, he will help guide the modernization of the Army’s network — a service priority alongside long-range precision fires, improved air-and-missile defense and an overhaul of aging aviation.

Kitz in a Friday interview said he was excited for the move.

“Candidly, it’s really going to challenge me and both my technical skills and leadership, and I’m really looking forward to that challenge,” he told C4ISRNET. “I’ve been at IEW&S for a really, really long time.”