Comarco Chief Quits After 3 Weeks to Accept Better Offer in Wisconsin : SCIENCE/TECHNOLOGY

After less than three weeks on the job, Comarco Inc.’s president and chief executive has resigned to accept a better offer with a company in his home state of Wisconsin.

Peter McKane said he decided to accept a job as vice president and chief financial officer with Nicolet Instruments in Madison because his family wanted to return to Wisconsin.

McKane, Comarco’s chief financial officer for the past year, was named to the additional position of president on Aug. 3. He said he was offered a job with the Wisconsin technology firm one week later.

“It was a total fluke,” he said Monday. “I have a 14-year-old son who’s about to start high school. He’s about 75% of the reason for making this decision.”

McKane said his family lived in a small Wisconsin town before moving to Orange County two years ago. His family decided that it preferred the Wisconsin life style to that of Southern California.

Comarco named Harrison Young II, 44, to replace McKane as president. The company said it has no immediate plans to name a new chief executive.

Young joined Comarco in 1985. He has held various posts, including executive vice president, treasurer, secretary, and most recently, president of a Comarco subsidiary in Virginia. Before joining Comarco, Young held a number of management posts with three engineering and computer software service companies over a period of 20 years.

Young is the fourth Comarco president in the past year.

McKane was named president and chief executive upon the retirement of Walter Sterling earlier this month.

Sterling, a longtime Comarco director and the chairman from 1975 to 1983, came out of retirement in August, 1987, to replace Glenn D. Buell Jr., who was ousted from the company’s top job shortly before Comarco announced a huge $19-million quarterly loss.

Comarco has returned to profitability during the past six months. Last Friday, the company won an important contract with the Naval Weapons Center at China Lake valued at up to $134 million over five years.

Comarco provides computer-based products and services to military and commercial customers.