Raytheon VP Grimes on deck for Defense CIO post

President Bush has nominated John G. Grimes, vice president of Raytheon Intelligence and Information Systems in Washington, to be the Defense Department's next chief information officer.

If confirmed by the Senate, Grimes will replace Linton Wells, who has served as acting CIO and assistant secretary for networks and information integration since former CIO John Stenbit left in March 2004.

Grimes would also be dual-hatted as the assistant secretary of Defense for networks and information integration.

Grimes previously served as deputy assistant secretary for counterintelligence and security countermeasures at Defense, and held the title of deputy assistant secretary for Defense-wide command, control and communications. He also worked for the National Security Council as senior director of the White House Situation Support Staff.

Grimes is a graduate of the University of Arizona and has a master's degree from Shippensburg University in Pennsylvania. He is a graduate of the Army War College in Carlisle Barracks, Pa., the Federal Executive Institute in Charlottesville, Va., and Harvard University's National and International Security Policy Program.

From 1961 to 1981, Grimes held senior technical and staff positions with the Army. He began his military service with the Air Force in 1956.

Raytheon Intelligence and Information Systems is a unit of Raytheon Co. of Lexington, Mass. The company has more than 80,000 employees and annual sales of $20.2 billion.

Raytheon ranks No. 7 on Washington Technology's 2005 Top 100 list, which measures federal contracting revenue.

Dawn S. Onley is a senior writer for Washington Technology's sister publication, Government Computer News.