Mr. Fritz F.S. McNair assumed duties as the Directorate Lead for the Joint Tactical Networking Center (JTNC) Software Solutions and Innovation Directorate (SSID) in July 2021. Fritz duties include oversight of the DoD IR that provides software code and relevant documentation for reuse based on legal agreements between government and software developers and supports the various DoD agencies overseeing the protection of critical technologies of wireless communications exported under commercial and/or Foreign Military Sales and licenses. Previously, Fritz served as Senior Defense Analyst for the Navy’s Cybersecurity Program Office, PMW 130.
With over a 26-year Army career, he served as a program manager for complex C4ISR programs and billion-dollar portfolios and as a transformational reformer for institutional modernization. Mr. McNair began his professional career as a commissioned officer in the U.S. Army Signal Corps in 1992. From 1992 to 2000, he served in various key tactical, operational, strategic and academic assignments including:
- Battalion Signal Officer for the Army’s first digitized Unit, 3-66th Armor Battalion, 4th Infantry Division where he served as a communications network planner/manager for the first fully-integrated brigade tactical internet with the Army’s battle command and control systems known as Army Battle Command System (ABCS) employed during the inaugural Experimental Force (EXFOR) XXI National Training Center (NTC) Advanced Warfighter Exercise in 1996
- Company Commander of the only strategic signal unit in Saudi Arabia supporting Joint Task Force – Southwest Asia and USARCENT providing enterprise communications for combined/joint/theater operations prior to the 160th theater Signal Brigade being established in Kuwait in 2003 to provide strategic CENTCOM AOR communications
- Instructor, Course Director, and Signal Corps Branch Representative for the Military Science Department at West Point where he co-designed the innovative Problem Based Learning (PBL) course MS402, “Tools of the Trade”
In 2003, Fritz transitioned to the Army Acquisition Corps and served as Assistant Product Manager for the Forward Looking Infrared (FLIR) Program responsible for total life cycle management of state-of-the-art thermal imaging sensors for Joint ground combat platforms. He deployed to Iraq as Liaison Officer to Multi-National Forces-Iraq (MNF-I) Headquarters and subsequently co-authored the Defense AT&L article titled, “Sensing Beyond the Visible: Combat-Enabling Technologies Increase Warfighter Safety in Iraq” for the September-October 2005 issue of the magazine.
Fritz next served as Department of the Army Systems Coordinator (DASC), a program analyst, for the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics, and Technology (ASAALT) overseeing a portfolio of C4 (Command, Control, Communications & Computer) Programs in the Battle Command Directorate from 2006 to 2008.
In 2008, he served as Product Manager for the Joint Program Executive Office, Joint Tactical Radio System managing the DoD radio waveform software portfolio and a $200M budget. As lifecycle manager for nearly three million Software Lines of Code (SLOC), these revolutionary cyber-hardened waveform applications continue to have transformational effects on the interoperability, speed, reliability, and security of full spectrum tactical network communications (i.e. voice, data, and video) for the DoD. The JPEO nominated him two years in a row for the Army Product Manager of the Year Award and nominated Fritz’s Ground Domain Waveforms Team for Product Management Team of the Year.
After serving as Executive Officer to the Army CIO, Fritz then served as the CIO’s Division Chief for the Army’s Enterprise Software Licensing and Contracts Division where he managed a $1B portfolio of software products and services, as well as, joint/interagency initiatives, projects and contracts. In coordination with the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA), he established and managed innovative and first-ever revolutionary IT projects and successfully transitioned them to fully funded/enduring acquisition category (ACAT) programs of record with congressional support.
Fritz is Level III certified in DoD Program Management and holds Master’s Degrees in Public Administration and Strategic Studies. He is a 1992 West Point graduate with a Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering and is a two-time Legion of Merit Recipient. He is also a member of the USMA Association of Graduates, Association of the United States Army (AUSA), and the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association (AFCEA).