Navy CIO Aaron Weis to depart in March

After three years in the role, Department of the Navy CIO Aaron Weis is set to step down next month.

In a letter sent out to Navy staff and obtained by DefenseScoop, Weis said he plans to depart on March 17.

“I came to the Department with the personal goal to leave the Navy better than I found it,” Weis’ email said. “Today, I look back on what we have accomplished and the teams we have created with a sense of pride. Although we have accomplished so much, there is much work to be done.”

He points to the DON Information Superiority Vision, the Navy’s work to continue operations during a pandemic and “moving nearly 700,000 sailors, marines and civilians to the cloud” as some of his office’s greatest achievements during his tenure.

Weis came to the Navy from the Defense Department’s Office of the Chief Information Officer in 2019 where he served as a senior adviser to then-CIO Dana Deasy. Prior to that, he was a senior IT leader at a variety of commercial firms, including a stint as CIO of a chemical manufacturing and coating company.

While the last five years have come with great progress in the work Weis has done with the U.S. military, it has come at a personal cost, taking him away from family, he wrote. “I’m on Year 5 of what I initially told my family would be a two year tour at the Pentagon. It is time for me to attend to family,” he said, describing his departure as “bittersweet.”

In his absence, Navy Principal Deputy CIO Jane Rathbun will step in to serve as acting CIO, Weis wrote.

Last September, Weis published an exclusive op-ed with DefenseScoop about his approach to modernizing the Navy’s cybersecurity posture.

Federal News Network first reported Weis’ departure.