Raytheon exec tapped for defense IT

President Bush has nominated Raytheon executive John Grimes to be assistant secretary of Defense for networks and information integration, succeeding Linton Wells, who has held the position in an acting capacity since early 2004.

Grimes worked for the Defense Department from 1990 to 1994 as deputy assistant secretary for counterintelligence and security countermeasures and deputy assistant secretary for command, control, communications and intelligence.

He began his career with military information systems while on active duty in the Air Force in 1956, when he worked on one of DOD’s first major computer-driven projects -- the Air Force Semi-Automatic Ground Environment, an air defense surveillance system that used radar connected to early IBM mainframe computers.