About Acumen
Acumen A&D was established to give senior executives a new way to execute strategy engagements; specifically:
- Toughest management decisions.
- Must-win situations.
- Engagements in Space and Intelligence markets
- Projects requiring special staffing
Questions Where Clients Look For Acumen
- “Look at the markets we serve and tell us what we need to do to grow…we need insight followed by a strategy and plan of action.”
- “Tell us if this market makes sense…rigorously test our hypothesis. If yes, lay out an entry strategy …”
- “This opportunity is must-win…can you lay out the win strategy and mentor the team to the win?”
- “Our strategic plan is stale and looks a lot like last year’s strategy. We need new ideas and perspective…an end-end strategic plan.”
- “Tell us how to increase international sales….”
- “We are missing targets. Analyze everything and tell us what we are doing wrong…where do we stand against competitors…what can we do to turn things around?”
Jack Cronin
Jack Cronin is Managing Director of Acumen Aerospace & Defense Advisers .
Before starting Acumen, Jack was Chief Strategy Officer at Textron Systems and worked in a similar capacity with Aurora Flight Sciences. While at Textron he was instrumental in the defense business revitalization as a result of wins in Shipbuilding (Ship to Shore Connector); UAS (MEUAS and USN ISR Services); Combat Vehicles (Canada TAP-V and Afghan MSFV); and Weapons (India SFW).
Jack was the President of ATK Mission Systems Group for 5 years where he organized and managed a $1.8B Company with several operating divisions, each with its own P&L: Aerospace Structures (Clearfield, UT); Advanced Weapons (Plymouth, MN); Integrated Systems (Woodland Hills, CA); Tactical Propulsion and Control (Baltimore, MD); and ATK Space (Beltsville, MD). Jack oversaw a diverse portfolio of product lines with markets in aerospace, space, defense and commercial. While increasing EBIDA% annually, Mission Systems revenue grew by over 70% during Jack’s tenure and the Group won critical and strategic programs such as PGK, MSST, Iraqi ISR AC, F35 (JSF) and A350ER Structures.
Jack spent 20+ years at Raytheon Company starting as an engineer in 1986 and culminating as President of Raytheon Systems Ltd. (RSL), United Kingdom where was responsible for a $1.6B organization with multiple defense and commercial products ranging from individual components to total integrated systems. RSL served as the prime contractor on key programs including Global Air Traffic Control Radar, Airborne Stand-Off Radar (ASTOR) and Paveway IV Precision Guided Bomb.
Prior to RSL Jack was Vice President for Future Surface Combatants where he was the leader for Zumwalt (DDG-1000), the U.S. Navy’s next-generation destroyer. Previously, he was Director of Advanced Systems, where he was responsible for Advanced Naval Radars, including SPY-3 and Dual Band Radar, and the management of a significant portfolio of special programs. In his tenure at Raytheon, Jack was a ‘through the ranks’ engineer who served in a wide variety of program management, engineering, and strategy positions.
Jack is a 1978 graduate of the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, New York. He also holds Master of Science Degrees from the Viterbi School of Engineering at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA. Jack served on active duty and then in the National Guard as a U.S. Army Officer. Jack is a Master Army Aviator and is qualified on multiple US Army aircraft.