Carrying forward a legacy at Military + Aerospace Electronics

NASHUA, N.H. - If you see me walking the floor of an industry event, my shoes probably aren’t going to be the first thing you notice about me. I’ve been with Military + Aerospace Electronics for nearly eight years now. Early on, I was pounding pavement in my Sunday best. Since my first trade show floor was essentially the runway at Le Bourget during the Paris Air Show, “tackling the tarmac” might be more appropriate.

With enough experience at these events, however, I’ve come to value comfort over style as I log several miles each day learning about the technologies being developed by the engineers, program managers, and innovators who drive this industry forward. If you do happen to look down, you’ll probably find me in a sensible pair of Adidas running shoes, size 13. Somewhere along the way, those miles on the trade show floor stopped feeling like simple reporting assignments and started feeling more like carrying forward a legacy.

I mention the shoes because over the past two months, I’ve had to fit those size 13 feet into a truly colossal pair of footwear left behind by my former boss and colleague, John Keller.

Mr. Keller was with Military + Aerospace Electronics for all but nine months of the publication’s existence. For more than three decades, he did more than edit a magazine. He helped build and steward a trusted publication that documented the evolution of military electronics from the early days of open systems computing to today’s era of AI-enabled autonomy, EW modernization, and next-generation sensing.

“That's longer than any other human being, living or dead, so suffice it to say, this franchise represents the lion's share of my life's work,” Keller wrote on the eve of his retirement. “That's about 36 years’ worth on this magazine, give or take, and I've loved every minute of it.”

Leading a publication shaped by an industry icon like John Keller is both daunting and humbling. As great a writer as Mr. Keller was and is, he was an even better teacher. Suffice it to say, I had a lot to learn when I joined M+AE in 2018, but John set me up for success by teaching me the ropes of the industry and by building this magazine into what it is today. Thank you, John, for everything. I hope your well-deserved retirement is remarkable.

If we haven’t met in person, online, or over a video conference, and/or you’d like to reach out, feel free to say “howdy” to me at [email protected].

As I begin this next chapter with M+AE, I’m also excited to help welcome our newest editor, Samantha McGrail. Like I was when I joined the publication, Samantha is new to the military and aerospace technology beat, but she brings a strong background in business reporting and journalism. One of the great privileges of inheriting a publication like this is the opportunity to help develop the next generation of reporters covering this industry.

If you’d like to say hello to Samantha, share news, or pitch story ideas, she’d love to hear from you at [email protected].

If you’d like to extend your well-wishes to John Keller, he can now be reached at [email protected]. In the meantime, I’m off to keep putting miles on those size 13s.