GD makes leadership changes at shipyards

SEPTEMBER 19, 2013 — General Dynamics (NYSE: GD) says that Jeffrey S. Geiger, president of General Dynamics Bath Iron Works, will become president of General Dynamics Electric Boat effective November 4, 2013, following the retirement of Kevin J. Poitras. Mr. Geiger will continue reporting to John P. Casey, executive vice president of Marine Systems for General Dynamics.

BIW president Jeffrey S. Geiger, seen here on left with U.S. Senator Angus King, is to become president of Electric Boat

Frederick J. Harris will remain as president of General Dynamics NASSCO but will also serve as president of Bath Iron Works.

Bath Iron Works and NASSCO will remain as wholly owned and separate General Dynamics subsidiaries. Michael J. Mulligan, president of General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products, will remain a vice president of the corporation and will become vice president and general manager of Bath Iron Works; Kevin M. Graney, currently vice president of operations at NASSCO, will become vice president and general manager of NASSCO.

Mr. Mulligan and Mr. Graney will report to Mr. Harris; Mr. Harris will continue reporting to Casey.

In announcing the changes, Mr, Casey said, “Kevin Poitras has demonstrated his capabilities over a 40-year career with Electric Boat. We appreciate his many accomplishments and his dedicated service, and wish him well in retirement.”

“This transition is an opportunity for us to review how General Dynamics’ surface-ship businesses operate, to ensure we are capturing all possible efficiencies as we support our primary customer, the U.S. Navy,” Mr. Casey continued.  “Fred Harris, as president of NASSCO over the past seven years, has led his team in identifying and implementing creative ways to cost-effectively deliver state-of-the-art surface vessels. I’m confident that he, Mike Mulligan, Kevin Graney and the teams at Bath Iron Works and NASSCO will find new opportunities to gain additional efficiencies across these already high-performance organizations.”

Mr. Poitras, 61, became president of Electric Boat in May 2012. Previously he was senior vice president of engineering, design and business development since September 2010. He joined Electric Boat in 1973 as a construction support engineer and held positions of increasing responsibility within the engineering and operations departments before becoming vice president, engineering and design programs in 2005. He earned a bachelor’s degree in marine engineering from the Maine Maritime Academy.

Mr. Geiger, 52, became president of Bath Iron Works in 2009. He joined the shipyard in 1984 as a production planner and held a series of progressively more-responsible positions in production, engineering, manufacturing, planning and quality assurance. He has had responsibility for all engineering, design, material procurement, planning, quality control, strategic planning, communications and business development at the shipyard. Geiger is a graduate of the University of Michigan where he earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in naval architecture.

Mr. Graney, 49, became vice president of Operations for NASSCO in January 2013. He oversees the manufacturing execution of NASSCO’s ship construction programs. He previously served as NASSCO’s vice president of programs since March 2010; he also has served as a program manager with Electric Boat, and was a submariner in the U.S. Navy. Graney holds a bachelor’s degree in marine engineering and nuclear science from SUNY Maritime College.

Mr. Harris, 68, became president of NASSCO in 2006. He had been senior vice president of programs at General Dynamics Electric Boat where he was responsible for the execution of all submarine design and construction programs. Harris joined the company in 1973 as a senior engineer on the Trident ballistic missile submarine program. He graduated from the Maine Maritime Academy in 1967 with a bachelor’s degree in marine engineering and holds a master’s degree in business administration from Babson College.

Mr. Mulligan, 50, became president of General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products in November 2006. He had joined Armament and Technical Products in July 2006 as the vice president of operations after 20 years at General Dynamics Electric Boat in a variety of capacities in the design, development and production of nuclear submarines. He holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Lowell, a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a master’s degree in business administration from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.