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Deputy Secretary of Defense Resigns


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(Reuters) - Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton Carter has decided to resign effective December 4 after more than four years of service in senior Pentagon jobs, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said in a statement on Thursday.

Carter has served as the Pentagon's number two official under Hagel and his predecessor, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta. He was the Pentagon's chief weapons buyer under Defense Secretary Robert Gates.

"Ash has been extraordinarily loyal and effective as deputy secretary, both for me and Secretary Panetta," Hagel said. "He possesses an unparalleled knowledge of every facet of America's defense enterprise, having worked directly and indirectly for 11 secretaries of defense over the course of his storied career."

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This is actually not good for us i.e. Capt JoeBagofDonuts and Amn Snuffy. Dr Carter was a huge advocate of the troops especially the guys on the ground in theater. He would routinely circumvent the normal acquisition BS channels to get things we needed ASAP. I'll bet he didn't see eye-eye w/the current Hagel regime or couldn't stand the Legislative crap that was hindering progression. He saw first hand as the Secretary of AT&L what rapid procurement and technology brought to the table and how it became a force multiplier (counter IED, missile defense, RQ170, etc).

Let's pray that he is resurrected in a couple years when Hagel is ousted.

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Hagel said this guy has unparalleled knowledge. Where is the secretary/exec that reviewed his speech? If he was truly unparalleled, then he would be number 1. And since he's a deputy secretary, he clearly isn't number one.

Or does this BS only apply to OPRs?

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Can you expand? Is hagel bad or do you just hate the Obama administration?

Hagel, like all appointees (whether under a Dem or a Republican), are essentially puppets for the person who put them in that position. So more than likely if you disagree with the POTUS and his policies, you will probably also disagree (at least somewhat) with his appointees and their policies.

Oh, and why do some people always use the word 'hate' just because someone may disagree with someone's policies and/or leadership style? I think you need to research the word 'hate' and apply it differently next time. I know a lot of people who dislike the President's policies, but I have never once heard someone say that they 'hate' him.

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Hagel said this guy has unparalleled knowledge. Where is the secretary/exec that reviewed his speech? If he was truly unparalleled, then he would be number 1. And since he's a deputy secretary, he clearly isn't number one.

Or does this BS only apply to OPRs?

No, this is probably an accurate statement. Hagel is a political appointee and former Senator; he's good in the political arena and not an idiot, But, Ash Carter has been working in the defense acquisition business from every possible aspect for something like 30 years. He probably is one of the most knowledgeble people in the country about how the acquisition system really works at the nuts and bolts level. He's a really nice guy and willing to innovate. He'll be tough to replace.

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So if he's so great, and he's been doing this so long, then why is our acquisitions process so jacked up?

Sidenote: his aides were complete assholes.... But aren't they all?

Edited by Champ Kind
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He wasn't that great. He is notorious in the big five-sided building for taking existing concepts, changing one element, and renaming them to make himself look like a genius. He begrudgingly took the Deputy job assuming he would get the pilot seat eventually, and when it didn't happen he made everyone under him miserable for months, myself included. He may have been able to pull off some astounding back door acquisitions while he was the AT&L Director, but he added no value as the DSD.

The Department would do well to have someone like Frank Kendall or Bob Hale in that slot. Both understand well what warfighters actually need, and both are fiscally-minded. Neither are social climbers or power hungry ass hats.

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He wasn't that great. He is notorious in the big five-sided building for taking existing concepts, changing one element, and renaming them to make himself look like a genius. He begrudgingly took the Deputy job assuming he would get the pilot seat eventually, and when it didn't happen he made everyone under him miserable for months, myself included. He may have been able to pull off some astounding back door acquisitions while he was the AT&L Director, but he added no value as the DSD.

The Department would do well to have someone like Frank Kendall or Bob Hale in that slot. Both understand well what warfighters actually need, and both are fiscally-minded. Neither are social climbers or power hungry ass hats.

I had a far different experience with Ash, but your background makes a HUGE difference in your dealings with him...he has favorites.

Hale and Kendall would be winners, Fox or Flournoy with be abominations...

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  • 2 months later...

Looks like it pays to be old friends with the bosses.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2013/12/17/president-obama-announces-more-key-administration-posts

Today, President Obama announced his intent to nominate the following individuals to key Administration posts: Eric Rosenbach - Assistant Secretary of Defense for Homeland Defense, Department of Defense
[...]
Eric Rosenbach is the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Cyber Policy at the Department of Defense, a position he has held since 2011. Previously [...] a Policy Advisor for President Obama's 2008 campaign. From 2005 to 2007, he was a national security advisor for Senator Chuck Hagel[...]

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Pulled a guy with a cybersecurity background--that's interesting in light of the NSA stuff the last couple of days.

Ha! Seems to be the theme......... just give the perception that you've got the right guy to tackle the current issues and everything will be just perfect ......... kinda like filling the VCSAF slot with a finance dude.

Like you said, pretty interesting.

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