By Stephen Larsen, Public Affairs
Project Manager, Defense Communications and Army Transmission Systems (PM DCATS)

Douglas Wiltsie, Program Executive Officer, Enterprise Information Systems (PEO EIS), presented the charter for Project Manager, Defense Communications and Army Transmission Systems (PM DCATS) to Col. Clyde Richards Jr., in a ceremony at Fort Belvoir, Va., on October 6. The change of charter took place before an overflow crowd of hundreds, which included Mike Krieger, the Army’s deputy chief information officer/G-6, Gary Winkler, the former PEO EIS and Terry Watson, the deputy PEO EIS and former acting PEO EIS.

As PM DCATS, Richards will be responsible for managing programs valued at more than $2 billion in support of the Army, Joint Services, National Command Authority and combatant commanders. Richards assumed the charter from Carlton Brown, who had served as the Acting PM DCATS since July 28, when he replaced Col. Jeffrey Mockensturm, who was reassigned as deputy director of the U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command (RDECOM) Lab in Huntsville, Ala. Brown will resume his prior role as the deputy PM DCATS.

Wiltsie lauded Mockensturm and Brown for their leadership of DCATS in providing systems that “protect our Soldiers who are serving our country and providing them with information solutions” – while simultaneously overseeing the transfer of the DCATS organization from Fort Monmouth, NJ, which closed due to Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC), to Fort Belvoir. “There was a great loss of intellectual capital, but they didn’t miss a beat—that’s phenomenal,” Wiltsie said. “PM DCATS is truly a team of acquisition professionals who take pride in their accomplishments.” Wiltsie noted that Richards had previously served in PEO EIS for more than 14 years of his 22-year Army career and is a veteran of Operation Desert Storm and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) in Iraq and of Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) in Afghanistan.

Brown thanked PEO EIS for the opportunity to serve as the acting PM DCATS, which he called a “once in a lifetime experience,” and welcomed Richards back to DCATS. “There is absolutely no doubt that the organization will continue to aim higher and attain its goals under your direction,” Brown said to Richards.

Richards thanked Wiltsie for the opportunity to return to PEO EIS as PM DCATS. “I truly have a passion for this business and look forward to leading this team,” Richards said. “We have some very serious challenges ahead with the impending budget cuts and post-war Army transformations. But I am confident that DCATS will rise to the occasion, as it always has, over the years.”