Former Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James will be appointed to the Board of Directors of Textron Inc. on July 1, a company press release stated.
The company's press release stated James spent time streamlining the Air Force's organization and logistics, and her experience may be able to provide insight for Textron on the Air Force's aerospace needs.
"Deborah’s deep expertise in national security, government procurement, strategic planning, cybersecurity, logistics and innovation, garnered from her leadership positions at the U.S. Air Force and private industry, will greatly benefit Textron," said Textron Chairman and CEO Scott Donnelly.
James spent three years working to update combat rescue helicopter, long-range strategic bomber and trainer aircraft and managing the F-35 and KC-46 programs, according to the press release.
The appointment comes amid Textron’s participationin the Air Force’s planned light attack aircraft demonstration this summer, which will feature the Textron AirLand Scorpion jet and Beechcraft AT-6.
James spoketo Defense News at the 2016 Air Force Association Conference about her accomplishments during her time as secretary, and she advised her successor on focal points for the Air Force in the coming years.
"The successor needs to focus on modernizing our Air Force because we are the oldest in terms of our equipment," she said.
Textron has yet to sell aircraft to the Air Force
While Textron has sometimes struggled to find a foothold in the U.S. defense aerospace sector,
but
the company hopes one of its participants will be chosen if the Air Force moves forward with its light attack aircraft acquisition, or OA-X.
Top Air Force officials said ongoing operations in the Middle East are taxing the service’s limited number of aircraft, Defense News reported in March.
The idea with the OA-X program is that if the service invests in several hundred light-attack aircraft in the Middle East, the expensive and sophisticated aircraft currently in use could be refocused on higher-end threats.
