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| Obama Appears to Be Seeking a More Forceful Defense Secretary | Military.com |
Carter Nomination Sets Up Senate Critique of Obama Policies |
Carter 'leading candidate' to be next Defense secretary
Ashton Carter Chosen As Nominee To Succeed Chuck Hagel As Defense Secretary: Reports
Ashton Carter, former deputy defense secretary, will be nominated to succeed Chuck Hagel as defense secretary, CNN and the AP report.Defense Secretary: Does Anyone Want This Job? « Breaking Defense - Defense industry news, analysis and commentary
When Carter resigned as deputy defense secretary in October 2013, Hagel said he had an "unparalleled knowledge of every facet" of the U.S. defense system.
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Hagel announced on Nov. 24 he would step down as secretary of defense, calling the job "the greatest privilege of my life." President Barack Obama said he and Hagel had determined it was an "appropriate time for him to complete his service."
Hagel will remain in office until his successor is confirmed by the Senate.
The AP reported earlier on the role of defense secretary:
Defense analyst Anthony Cordesman said that as Obama approaches the end of his presidency, the Cabinet post is "not particularly desirable" for anyone with broader political ambitions.
WASHINGTON: The Obama administration is reaping what it sowed. Toss out someone without good cause and few people will want to work for you once word gets around.What’s Right About Carter Obama’s Next Defense Secretary | Ares
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We appear left with Deputy Defense Secretary Bob Work, former deputy secretary Ash Carter and, perhaps, Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James as the only people who haven’t yet turned the administration down as it hunts for a new Cabinet-level appointee to lead the U.S. military. Or are White House officials already effectively doing that job?
Perhaps Hagel and Obama will discuss this when they meet tomorrow morning at the White House.
Like the president, Carter has a professorial side. Before joining the Obama administration as the Pentagon’s top acquisition official and later its No. 2 civilian, he was chair of the International and Global Affairs faculty at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. He was also the co-director of the Preventive Defense Project. Carter earned a bachelor’s degree in physics and medieval history from Yale University and later was awarded a doctorate in theoretical physics from Oxford University. He was a Rhodes Scholar. So was National Security Advisor Susan Rice, whom Carter gave a warm, post-nomination hug.
Introducing Carter, Obama touted the nominee’s background as a physicist, meaning that Carter is “one of the few who know how our defense systems work,” as well as his innovations in the world of dismantling nuclear weapons –- one of the few national security issues Obama championed from early in his presidency. Obama said that Carter has “never been afraid to cancel old or inefficient weapons systems,” a passing reference to the nominee’s background role in ending General Electric’s attempt to make an alternative engine for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. Carter was also new in the job when Gates truncated the purchase of the F-22 Raptor.
Previously:
spendergast: Ash Carter: Pentagon's Acquisition System Still Not 'Responsive'
Ash Carter is one of the best and brightest, a brilliant man who has dedicated his career to national security policy. Unfortunately he appears to have been unable to push the elephant of defense acquisition to become lean and effective in an era of declining budgets. Definitely not an easy job, but being a top policy wonk and academic think tank leader might not give one the best tools to do it. Criticizing the bureaucracy which he was responsible for leading for the past 4 years would seem to be an admission of failure, but typical of the Obama administration.
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