USMC Vet, Former L3 Exec Rick Schmidt Appointed Black Sage President

Acorn Growth Companies has appointed 38-year aerospace and defense industry veteran Rick Schmidt as president of the investment firm’s new portfolio business, Black Sage Technologies.

He most recently served as senior vice president and general manager of Vertex Aerospace, where he led profit-and-loss functions for a portfolio of U.S. military and international aviation programs, Acorn said Wednesday.

Schmidt, who joins Black Sage nearly two months after Acorn acquired the counter-unmanned aircraft systems developer, held roles of increasing responsibility at Vertex’s former parent company L3 Technologies. Those positions included VP and GM of Army sustainment operations and director of programs for contract field services in Madison, Miss.

Before L3, he worked at Aviation Training Consulting as director of programs that utilized a systems approach to military training.

Schmidt spent 26 years in the U.S. Marine Corps and served as chief of staff for the 3D Marine Aircraft Wing before he retired from USMC. He has flown various aircraft such as CH-46, CH-53A, T-34, TH-57, RH-53 and UH-1.

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