WASHINGTON — Boeing announced Monday Ted Colbert, who heads Boeing Global Services, will take over the company’s $26 billion defense unit at the end of the week.
Leanne Caret, the president and chief executive of Boeing Defense, Space and Security, will retire later this year. Until then, Caret will serve as executive vice president and senior adviser to Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun as part of the transition process.
In a release, Calhoun thanked Caret for her service at Boeing. She began working for the company in 1988, and has led its defense unit since 2016.
“We are grateful for Leanne’s dedicated service and I’d like to thank her for her outstanding contributions to our industry, our customers, our company and our employees over her extraordinary career at Boeing,” Calhoun said.
Colbert has been at Boeing since 2009. Before being named chief executive of global services in 2019, Colbert served as Boeing’s chief information officer.
“Throughout his career, Ted Colbert has consistently brought technical excellence and strong and innovative leadership to every position he has held,” Calhoun said in the release. “Under his leadership, [Boeing Global Services] has assembled an excellent leadership team focused on delivering safe and high-quality services for our defense and commercial customers. His leadership track record and current experience supporting the defense services portfolio ideally position Ted to lead” Boeing Defense.
Stephanie Pope, who is chief financial officer at Boeing Commercial Airplanes, will be the new head of Boeing Global Services, overseeing aerospace services for commercial, government and aviation industry customers and focusing on supply chain and parts distribution, among other areas.
Stephen Losey is the air warfare reporter for Defense News. He previously covered leadership and personnel issues at Air Force Times, and the Pentagon, special operations and air warfare at Military.com. He has traveled to the Middle East to cover U.S. Air Force operations.
