By J. Michelle Young | Technical Editor PM EW&C |
Col. Scott Shaffer passes the PdM TSW charter to Lt. Col. David Picard.
Col. Scott Shaffer honors Lt. Col. John Cross during the retirement portion of the ceremony.
On July 17, Project Manager Electromagnetic Warfare & Collection (PM EW&C) introduced Lt. Col. David Picard as the new Product Manager for Tactical Spectrum Warfare (PdM TSW) at Aberdeen Proving Ground (APG), MD. Col. Scott Shaffer, PM EW&C, hosted the ceremony—honoring the Change of Charter and retirement of Lt. Col. John Cross, the outgoing Product Manager for TSW.
Part of the Capability Program Executive for Intelligence and Spectrum Warfare (CPE ISW) since 2019, Cross began his tenure at Hanover, MD as an Assistant Product Manager for PdM Information Warfare (IW) and then served as Executive Officer for the CPE ISW. He returned to PdM IW as a Product Lead and was ultimately selected for a Centralized Selection List key billet position to lead TSW.
Throughout his impressive journey, one thing remained consistent: Cross’ ability to balance being highly personable and technically knowledgeable, with unwavering dedication.
“When he took the helm at TSW, he instituted innovative acquisition approaches in a highly technical environment and tailored programs through rapid prototyping and flexible contracting to accelerate delivery,” said Shaffer. “His strong leadership style and solution-focused approach kept everyone moving forward and ready to tackle any challenges.”
He successfully led those responsible for fielding the Terrestrial Layer System Manpack and Spectrum Situational Awareness System, providing Soldiers with signals intelligence, direction finding, EMS situational awareness and other critical capabilities to pace the threat.
When you ask Cross what inspired him to do this work, he reflects on his deep responsibility to protect our Soldiers, forged by his combat deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. Such dedication was evident each day at TSW.
Cross’ exemplary leadership and professionalism were instrumental in developing and fielding the next generation of electronic warfare and signals intelligence capabilities for the Warfighter.
Picard returns to the CPE ISW to join the PdM TSW, after most recently serving as a Future Science Integration Officer with the Army Research Laboratory for the past two years. He previously served as an Assistant Product Manager under CPE ISW from 2020 to 2022 and began his first Acquisition assignment in 2017.