Armed Forces News

President Obama will nominate Ashton Carter, a former senior Pentagon official, to succeed Chuck Hagel as secretary of defense, CNN and the Associated Press reported Dec. 2. Carter, 60, served as deputy defense secretary from October 2011 to December 2013. Before moving into the Defense Department’s number two civilian position, Carter served as undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology, and logistics. Though Carter has never served in the military, he would bring an impressive curriculum vitae to the Defense Department. He earned a doctorate in physics while attending Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar, and is considered an expert in the U.S. military’s nuclear arsenal, according to an Associated Press profile. Initial response from both sides of the aisle on Capitol Hill has been positive.