GSA’s Johnson’s message to staff announcing his retirement

We told you earlier that GSA’s John Johnson was expected to announce his retirement — as soon as today. And… it is today. While the public...

We told you earlier that GSA’s John Johnson was expected to announce his retirement — as soon as today. And… it is today. While the public announcement isn’t expected for a few hours with some commentary coming during a afternoon press briefing about GSA’s award of the Alliant governmentwide acquisition contract, Johnson sent the following note to his staff:

Dear Colleagues:

First let me say that it was indeed a pleasure to meet with all of you at our Integrated Technology Services (ITS) All Hands meeting held March 17th in Crystal City. You can not imagine the immense pride I had looking out into the audience and realizing that together we have formed what I believe to be the strongest and most capable Information Technology Services organization in the Federal government.

In looking back, I realize exactly how tremendous our achievements have been: we transitioned from the legacy FTS and FSS environment while concurrently developing and awarding some of the most comprehensive and capable Telecommunications/IT contracts in our government’s history — SATCOM-II, Networx Enterprise, Networx Universal, HSPD-12, the Veterans GWAC, Alliant SB, and Alliant. As if that weren’t enough, we also ran a steady and growing business that represents nearly one third of the federal government IT market. None of the aforementioned could have been accomplished had it not been for our very diverse and capable team consisting of administrative, technical, and contracting expertise, accounting professionals, program managers and other skills and abilities that constitute a winning formula. It was very tough at times and we had a lot of work to complete with both limited resources and competing pressures but, together we did it!

Now that ITS is firmly situated on a path to success and the bulk of our contracting activity is complete, it is time for me to think about what new challenges lie ahead for me personally and the many ways that I can continue to serve my country. I have been blessed with a wonderfully rich suite of experiences that have helped shape who I am today. From my start as a young sailor in the Navy to my current position, I have realized that there really is no greater honor than the opportunity to serve ones country. It has therefore been a difficult decision to make, but I have decided to retire effective 2 May 2009.

As I indicated to you in my closing comments at the All Hands meeting, “YOU GET IT”. You recognize the opportunities and challenges that face ITS and are moving forward as a unified team to fulfill our vision of “Great Government Through Technology.” I take great pride in knowing that, during my tenure as your Assistant Commissioner, we built the foundation for continued future success.

VR, John

John C. Johnson
Assistant Commissioner for
Integrated Technology Services
U.S. General Services Administration

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