We are sad to learn of the passing of former SMA Associate Charles E. Payne.

After a stellar career 26-year with the US Air Force, culminating in his position as a Colonel serving as Program Director of the Consolidated Space Operations Center (CSOC) at Headquarters Space Systems Division, Charles joined SMA (then SM&A) in April 1990 as an Associate.

In an era when SM&A’s tagline was “When you need Doers, not Advisors,” Charles made an immediate impact as a “doer” with our clients. In 1991, he received a letter of praise from Lockheed Missiles & Space Company for his last-minute rewrite of the Executive Summary volume on the Advanced Contingency Theater Sensor (ACTS) proposal to Army Strategic Defense Command. He served as a Proposal Manager on many notable programs, including the US Air Force’s Boost Surveillance Tracking System (BSTS) and its later version, the Follow-on Early Warning System (FEWS), and the Second-Generation Reusable Launch Vehicle, the US Coast Guard’s Deepwater program, and the US Navy’s DD(X) Zumwalt-class destroyer.

Charles was promoted to Vice President in 1993, with responsibility for space programs, and later as site manager and account developer for two major clients. Rather than retiring, he continued to share his knowledge and experience by leading proposal development training classes for our new Associates in the early 2000s.

After fully retiring, Charles was appointed to serve on the inaugural Blue-Ribbon Committee on Ethics and Integrity in his hometown of Torrance, California. He went on to chair the five-member committee tasked with developing recommendations to establish a sustainable ethics program. In 2008, the Committee submitted their report to City council. The report included a Preamble to the Code of Ethics, a Code of Conduct, and Values and Standards that remain a big part of Torrance values and practices.

Charles is survived by his beloved wife Janet of 63 years, son Christopher (wife Christine), daughter Andrea, grandson Charlie (wife Laure, and mother Annette), two great-grandsons Casen and Calihan, sister Barbara Payne Long, nieces, nephews, family, and many friends.