James Tapp didn't plan on a career in corporate development when he retired from the Air Force with the rank of colonel in 1994. After spending six years in Washington as liaison to the U.S. Senate and in other government roles for the military, Tapp was mostly interested in getting away from the Beltway. He took a job in strategic development with Vought Aircraft Co. in Dallas. Tapp has since worked his way up the ladder at Vought and then at Northrop Grumman Corp., which took full control of Vought in 1994. He's now vice president of corporate development at Northrop Grumman.

It's an interesting time for the defense industry, which after years of landscape-altering deals is now focused on smaller acquisitions, portfolio trimming and joint ventures. At the same time, new enemies and new technologies have made high-tech warfare and securing sensitive networks just as important to the Pentagon as new bombers and submarines, forcing defense contractors to build ties in industries outside their traditional areas of expertise.

"We are still in the process of discovering ourselves," Tapp says. "We grew quickly from 1999 through to 2003, and we spent a lot of time integrating what we bought and learning how to take best advantage of the talents we have inside our organization." - Lou Whiteman

• Making a career of corporate development at J&J
• Moving to a line business at Pitney Bowes
• From Shearman & Sterling to the middle of the Bristol-Myers makeover
• PepsiCo to Lehman to Campbell Soup
• On the inside at Brocade, but with roots in consulting
• Internal networking at ATMI
• Finding a faster ship at Glam Media
  

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