As the new program executive officer of intelligence, electronic warfare and sensors at the U.S. Army, Brig. Gen. Ed Barker said he plans to prioritize stakeholder management, review of strategic partners’ needs and building their organizational agility.
In an interview on C4ISRNET, Barker said he intends to meet with program managers in September to do a deep dive of their branch’s projects and goals as part of continuous assessments at PEO IEW&S.
He highlighted their outlook for deep sensing technology, which is being applied to experimental military assets such as the terrestrial layer system.
“We’re welcoming the conversation about deep sensing because we know we’re ready to contribute,” Barker explained. “With TLS or TITAN as examples, I think what that means is they may end up at a different echelon, and there may be more or fewer at that echelon, as the Army goes to this more centralized management, and then pushing those capabilities down to the brigade combat team. I think we need to be prepared to adjust for that, across the portfolio.”
When asked about the transition process between him and former IEW&S program executive officer Mark Kitz, Barker said that both of them had very similar leadership and problem-solving approaches. “There is definitely a different level of responsibility that the PEO has that the deputy doesn’t have,” the new PEO remarked. “Things like being the approving official for the networks and stuff…Mark helped me navigate that.”
