Executive Mosaic is honored to announce David Melcher, president and CEO at Exelis Inc., as the newest inductee into the Wash 100, the premier group of leaders who create value for the American public and execute strategic vision at the intersection of the public and private sectors.
Melcher served in the U.S. Army for 32 years prior to joining the private sector and retired from military service having achieved the rank of Lieutenant General. While in service, Melcher held battalion and brigade command responsibilities in infantry and armored divisions and went on to serve as the Army’s Military Deputy for Budget, and Deputy Chief of Staff for Programs (G8), among other distinguished posts.
“The Army is just as much about leadership as it is anything else, and it trains people to be leaders of organizations of all sizes, to care for people, and to focus on the mission,” Melcher told ExecutiveBiz about his transition to private sector.”
“The people that tend to be good leaders really know how to care for the people they lead, as well as inspire them to do the things that need to be done for the benefit of the company. “
A former White House Fellow and Executive Assistant for the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, Melcher led ITT Defense for three years in advance of its spin-off into publicly traded Exelis in October 2011, when he assumed his current position. He had joined ITT Defense and Information Solutions in 2008 as vice president of strategy and business development.
While looking at the upcoming budget environment back in late 2010, Melcher wrote that the winners in the market would be those “that are rethinking how they do business.”
“Proposing and designing expensive new systems may no longer be a realistic approach,” he wrote. “Instead, providing advancement and affordable new directions for proven technologies will be the key to success.”
Once taking the reigns at Exelis, Melcher emphasized avoiding “becoming overly dependent on legacy systems and largescale projects increasingly subject to budget scrutiny” and made moves to ensure that “many of our products can be fitted across multiple platforms or can be used to upgrade existing systems.”
Melcher earned his undergraduate degree form West Point and later earned an MBA from Harvard.
Executive Mosaic extends its congratulations to Dave and the rest of the Exelis organization.
