In Memory of Stanley Cieslewicz ’79
STANLEY J. CIESLEWICZ ’79 of Vancouver, Washington, died Nov. 11, 2020. At Ripon, he participated in forensics/debate, student government, theatre and ROTC. He received a degree in foreign service from Georgetown University and a doctor of jurisprudence from the University of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho. He retired in June 2019 after 37 years in federal service from the Office of the Judge Advocate, U.S. Army Europe. He had served as an active duty officer, an Army and Air Force reserve officer, and as a civilian attorney in several assignments around the world. He was renowned throughout Europe and across the Services for his expertise in contract and fiscal law and was the U.S. Army Europe expert on Acquisition and Cross Servicing Agreements.
Submitted obituary:
NOTICE OF PASSING – Mr. Stanley J. Cieslewicz
It is with deep sadness that I inform you of the passing of Mr. Stanley J. Cieslewicz. Stan, as he was known to family and friends, retired after 37 years of federal service from the Office of the Judge Advocate, US Army Europe, in June, 2019. During his years of service, Stan served as an active duty officer, an Army and Air Force reserve officer, and as a civilian attorney in several different assignments around the world. He was renowned throughout Europe and across the Services for his keen understanding in contract and fiscal law matters.
Born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on December 8, 1956, Stan was the second of five brothers. In 1975, after high school, Stan attended Ripon College in Ripon, Wisconsin, and later, in 1979, graduated with Bachelor of Science degree in Foreign Service from Georgetown University, Washington, DC. In 1982, Stan received his Doctor of Jurisprudence from the University of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho.
Stan first commissioned as an officer in the US Army Adjutant General’s Corps in 1982. Subsequently, he transferred to the Judge Advocate General’s Corps, graduating from the Judge Advocate Officer Basic Course in 1983. For the next four years, Stan served in a variety of positions at the US Army Armament, Munitions and Chemical Command at Rock Island, Illinois, in Korea, and at Fort Lewis.
After Stan left active duty in 1988, he worked as a civilian attorney for the US Army Corps of Engineers in the Seattle District. He moved to Germany for the first time in 1990, when the US Army Contracting Command-Europe hired him as Regional Counsel in Fuerth, Germany. In 1993, Stan left Germany to take a job as Regional Counsel, Defense Commissary Agency, Northwest/Pacific Division, Fort Lewis, Washington. However, after three years, Stan returned to Germany as the Regional Counsel, US Army Contract Command Europe, Grafenwoehr, Germany. In 1998, the US Army Europe Office of the Judge Advocate, then in Heidelberg, Germany, hired Stan as an Attorney-Advisor in the Contract and Fiscal Law Division (KFLD). Stan moved with the Headquarters from Heidelberg to Wiesbaden in 2014 and remained with KFLD until his retirement in June 2019.
Concurrently with his assignments as a civilian attorney, Stan served as an Army Reserve Officer first in the Army and then in the Air Force Reserves, working in a variety of positions in both organizations. Stan retired from the Air Force Reserves as a Lt. Colonel in 2010, with over 28 years of both active and reserve service.
Over the course of his 37 years of Government service, Stan provided legal support on thousands of procurement actions worth billions of dollars. In fact, Stan’s career in Europe spanned several key events to which Stan contributed valuable legal advice to US Army Europe, such as responding to Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait, operations in the Balkans, and Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
Stan was an acknowledged expert on many facets of contract and fiscal law. Of note, Stan was the US Army Europe expert on Acquisition and Cross Servicing Agreements (ACSA), and for many years, provided invaluable insight to US Army Europe command and staff in the execution of its expansive ACSA program.
Importantly, over the course of his career, Stan also trained and mentored dozens of attorneys and junior officers. Stan was always willing to use his nearly four decades of acquisition experience to train and develop the next generation of attorneys. But beyond being an iconic attorney within the contract and fiscal community, Stan was also a great colleague and friend. Whether it was sharing stories about his travels to Spain, discussing the requirements for an ACSA order, filling in the legal history behind why things are the way they are in US Army Europe, or playing the “Cieslewicz song” for every new attorney, Stan was a fixture in the office and is sorely missed.
Stan passed away less than a month before his 64th birthday, on November 11, 2020, at his home in Vancouver, Washington. He was preceded in death by his parents and his brother, Paul. He is survived by brothers Mark, Bill, and Greg, along with a legion of Uncles, Aunts, cousins, and friends in the U.S. and around the world. Please keep the Cieslewicz family in your thoughts and prayers during this most difficult of times.
A virtual tribute will be held for Stan, hosted by the US Army Europe, OJA on December 9, 2020, 1000 Eastern Standard Time (EST) (or 1600 Central European Time (CET)). Please contact Ms. Irina Edwards by email at [email protected] if you wish to receive an invite to view the virtual tribute over Zoom.
CHARLES N. PEDE
LTG, U.S. Army
The Judge Advocate General