McChrystal to chair board of new Siemens federal business

The German-based contracting conglomerate Siemens has selected retired Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, the former top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, to serve as the chairman for the board of directors of its newly established federal operations.

The move is the latest in getting Siemens Government Technologies up and running. Siemens’ U.S. arm, Siemens Corp., relocated its headquarters to Washington earlier this year, and in May, it tapped longtime Lockheed Martin executive Judy Marks to head the federal business.

She has been tasked with doubling U.S. government sales, which make up about 5 percent of the sales of Siemens Corp.

McChrystal will serve on the board along with retired Lt. Gen. John Sylvester, who served as chief of staff of U.S. European Command in Germany, and Robert Coutts, who retired in 2008 from running Lockheed Martin’s electronics systems business unit.

Also, three Siemens representatives — Marks; Daryl Dulaney, president and chief executive of Siemens Industry; and Klaus Stegemann, chief financial officer of Siemens Corp. — will fill out the rest of the board membership.

McChrystal resigned as the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan in 2010 after his aides were quoted in a Rolling Stone article criticizing high-ranking Obama administration officials, including Vice President Joe Biden.

But Marks said Siemens was eager to work with him.

“We had zero hesitation in asking Gen. McChrystal to join our board,” Marks said. “It was actually just the opposite.”

McChrystal said in an interview last week that the incident hasn’t damaged his relationships, particularly with the White House, as the first lady invited him to lead Joining Forces, an administration-sponsored initiative to support troops and military families. In April, McChrystal was appointed to head the group’s three-member advisory board.

“As a personal experience, every time you go through something, you grow from it,” he said. “I came out of [it], I think, a stronger person.”

In addition to his work on Joining Forces, McChrystal has joined the board of JetBlue Airways and Navistar, which is known for making military and commercial vehicles.

He said he was impressed by Siemens’s commitment to hiring veterans as well as its focus on areas such as energy and health care. In offering advice, he said he planned to draw on his experience with the military, which offered him a sense of the Defense Department’s needs, particularly when deployed.

Marks said the board’s first meeting is scheduled for this week.

The German-based contracting conglomerate Siemens has selected retired Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, the former top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, to serve as the chairman for the board of directors of its newly established federal operations.

The move is the latest in getting Siemens Government Technologies up and running. Siemens’ U.S. arm, Siemens Corp., relocated its headquarters to Washington earlier this year, and in May, it tapped longtime Lockheed Martin executive Judy Marks to head the federal business.

She has been tasked with doubling U.S. government sales, which make up about 5 percent of the sales of Siemens Corp.

McChrystal will serve on the board along with retired Lt. Gen. John Sylvester, who served as chief of staff of U.S. European Command in Germany, and Robert Coutts, who retired in 2008 from running Lockheed Martin’s electronics systems business unit.

Also, three Siemens representatives — Marks; Daryl Dulaney, president and chief executive of Siemens Industry; and Klaus Stegemann, chief financial officer of Siemens Corp. — will fill out the rest of the board membership.

McChrystal resigned as the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan in 2010 after his aides were quoted in a Rolling Stone article criticizing high-ranking Obama administration officials, including Vice President Joe Biden.

But Marks said Siemens was eager to work with him.

“We had zero hesitation in asking Gen. McChrystal to join our board,” Marks said. “It was actually just the opposite.”

McChrystal said in an interview last week that the incident hasn’t damaged his relationships, particularly with the White House, as the first lady invited him to lead Joining Forces, an administration-sponsored initiative to support troops and military families. In April, McChrystal was appointed to head the group’s three-member advisory board.

“As a personal experience, every time you go through something, you grow from it,” he said. “I came out of [it], I think, a stronger person.”

In addition to his work on Joining Forces, McChrystal has joined the board of JetBlue Airways and Navistar, which is known for making military and commercial vehicles.

He said he was impressed by Siemens’s commitment to hiring veterans as well as its focus on areas such as energy and health care. In offering advice, he said he planned to draw on his experience with the military, which offered him a sense of the Defense Department’s needs, particularly when deployed.

Marks said the board’s first meeting is scheduled for this week.