Program Executive Office Integrated Warfare Systems Holds Change of Office

Program Executive Office Integrated Warfare Systems Holds Change of Office

By PEO Integrated Warfare Systems Public Affairs

WASHINGTON - Rear Adm. Tom Dickinson relieved Rear Adm. Seiko Okano as Program Executive Officer, Integrated Warfare Systems (PEO IWS) during a change of office ceremony at the Washington Navy Yard, July 11.

Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisition (ASN(RD&A)) Nickolas Guertin presented the Legion of Merit to Okano at the ceremony.

"Rear Adm. Okano excelled in every technical, funding, and programmatic challenge she faced during her tour as a program executive officer. She provided visionary leadership, steadfast mission accomplishment, and dedication to delivering game-changing capability to the warfighter," said Guertin. "She worked tirelessly to overcome institutional challenges that inhibit our ability to quickly deliver critical capabilities to the warfighter at speed and scale. A consummate professional in every sense, her leadership placed PEO IWS at the forefront of transformational change within the Navy and the U.S. Department of Defense."

As the Navy's premier combat systems organization, PEO IWS works to evolve existing combat systems into an Integrated Combat System to ensure ongoing combat superiority over adversaries. PEO IWS-the largest and most diverse PEO under the ASN (RD&A)-works as a team to ensure that the Navy's warfighters' needs are met by acquiring the best and most cost-effective integrated weapons systems for the fleet's ships, submarines, and aircraft, both today and in the future.

During Okano's four year tenure as PEO IWS the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Winston S. Churchill (DDG 81) became the first ship running a fully virtualized Aegis Combat System to successfully intercept an air target with a missile. Okano and her team also fielded the world's most powerful surface radar, the SPY-6 Air and Missile Defense radar, and oversaw the first deployment to sea of an infrastructure-as-a-service capability which enables rapid combat system upgrades outside the port visit structure.

Okano attributed the PEO's major accomplishments to her team members and supportive leadership.

"All these PEO IWS leaders started with small undeniable wins, inspired their teams, and went for more, and now the culture they have created is infectious. These are our modern warfighters," said Okano. "They are changing the way we think about being able to react on the battlefield, they are changing the culture of their teams and are having a significant impact already."

Dickinson reports to PEO IWS after completing his first flag role as commander, Naval Surface Warfare Center and commander, Naval Undersea Warfare Center.

"It's an incredible honor to stand here today as PEO IWS Program Executive Officer," said Dickinson. "For me, this is the culmination of a dream that started after command at sea and making the decision to pursue life as an acquisition professional. There is no place I'd rather be than at PEO IWS. The mission upfront is simple, straight forward, and awesome: develop, deliver, and sustain operationally dominant combat systems for Sailors."

Okano will relieve Rear Adm. Doug Small as commander, Naval Information Warfare Systems Command this summer.

The Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) is comprised of command staff, headquarters directorates, affiliated Program Executive Offices (PEOs) and numerous field activities. Together, NAVSEA engineers, builds, buys and maintains ships, submarines and combat systems that meet the Fleet's current and future operational requirements.