Insurance
Home›Insurance›Industry & Deals›USAA names retired Army general David Melcher board ch…
USAA names retired Army general David Melcher board chairman
Melcher succeeds vice admiral James Zortman as USAA navigates a leadership overhaul and addresses insurance and banking challenges cited by S&P.
USAA has appointed retired lieutenant general David F. Melcher as chairman of its board of directors, with a planned transition from retired vice admiral James M. Zortman, according to Insurance Business.
Melcher has served on the USAA board for nearly seven years, most recently as vice chairman. Before moving into private industry, he spent 32 years in the US Army, later serving as president and CEO of Exelis Inc. from 2011 to 2015, and president and chief executive of the Aerospace Industries Association from 2015 to 2017. His board roles also include experience at GM Defense, Becton Dickinson, C.R. Bard, and Embecta Corporation, where he served as non-executive chairman.
The appointment comes as USAA works through active institutional change. The company serves more than 14.5 million members across the US military community and their families, and it ranked as the third-largest homeowners multiperil insurer and fifth-largest all-private passenger auto insurer in the United States in 2024, based on direct premiums written, according to AM Best data.
USAA posted a net loss of $1.3 billion in 2022, its first annual loss since 1923, before improving, with net income of $3.89 billion in 2024 and net worth growing to $32.1 billion, up 10 percent year over year. By the end of 2025, net worth had grown further to $38.6 billion for a third consecutive year, but S&P Global Ratings lowered USAA's financial strength rating from AA+ to AA in May 2025, citing an average pretax loss of $236 million at its banking subsidiary from 2020 to 2024, while holding a stable outlook and projecting combined ratios of 93 to 95 percent for 2025 and 2026.