Sliwa to ‘Retire’ from Insitu

In Journal by Steve Sliwa

It’s official.  I have announced my retirement from Insitu.  We were acquired from Boeing in September of 2008 and I had agreed to stay for at least two years to help with the transition.  I have exceed that target and am now looking forward to enjoying some time off.  Many people have told me that I can’t retire and they don’t believe it, but I do have many, many things I’d like to do outside of work.  Admittedly, I really do enjoy working, have really enjoyed Insitu, and I wouldn’t be surprised if there is another ‘hurrah’ yet in the cards.  However, I am hoping to do some flying, travel, and spend time on lots of personal projects.  One is to get my websites, like this one, caught up.

Here are excerpts from my internal announcement at Insitu:

As some of you know, I am fast approaching my 10-year service anniversary with Insitu.  My time with this organization, and all of you, has been more exciting, rewarding, and memorable than I could have imagined!  It is therefore with mixed emotions that I am announcing my intention to retire from Insitu effective April 1.  Although several of the members of Boeing’s Insitu Advisory Board have encouraged me to stay longer, I believe this is an opportune time for me to hand-off the reins of the company.  I am looking forward to spending more time with Nancy, flying, visiting family and friends, and catching up on many priorities and personal projects that have been postponed over the last few years

During the past decade we have grown from 4 employees to over 800 with about $400M in sales and we now serve customers all over the world.  We are coming up on over 500,000 flight hours of service and many military units rely on us each day for their safety.  We have recently secured a government program of record and are busy getting ready to introduce the next generation of Insitu technology to the field.  We have achieved many monumental milestones that required the talents and dedication of our entire extended team (includes employees as well as advisors, subcontractors, suppliers, strategic allies, and etc.).  Together we have much to be proud.

Debbie Rub, the VP Missiles & Unmanned Systems (MUAS), is reviewing the options and will be working with Boeing human resources and the Insitu board to expeditiously make a new CEO recommendation.  Since we have a strong and respected leadership team at Insitu with a track-record of success, board members tell me that they are not motivated to use this situation to make any significant structural changes at Insitu.  They want to protect the team and its innovative & collaborative culture.  Boeing’s goal is to announce a replacement in a timely fashion to permit some overlap with me before my departure.

It has been my pleasure leading this terrific enterprise and I assure you that letting go of Insitu is going to be challenging for me.  But I am confident that Insitu will thrive and prosper in the coming years based upon the foundation that we have grown together and the talents we have assembled to build upon that base.

We will keep you posted over the coming weeks as more information becomes available about the specifics of the transition.  In the meantime, let’s continue to work together to serve our customers and to meet/exceed the expectations of our stakeholders.

Also, here is a link to a local news story: link

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