The Obama administration is considering former Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel for a top national security post, most likely secretary of state or defense, Foreign Policy magazine’s The Cable reported Wednesday. Obama befriended Hagel, a moderate Republican, when they traveled overseas together as senators. Four years ago the Obama transition team offered him several top posts, but he turned all of them down …
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Monday he had no imminent plans to step down but refused to speculate as to when he might depart. Still, it’s unlikely he will stay at the Pentagon for four more years. When asked by reporters flying with him to Australia whether he would remain for the duration of the president’s second term, he responded, “Who the hells knows …
Last month, 360 reported that the leading candidate to replace Defense Secretary Leon Panetta is Michèle Flournoy, who served as the Pentagon’s undersecretary for policy from the beginning of Obama’s term until last February. If Flournoy, who advised the president’s campaign on national security issues, becomes the next secretary, she would become the first woman to head the Pentagon …
Former Sen. Jim Talent has emerged as the leading candidate to be named secretary of defense in a prospective administration under Mitt Romney, reports the National Journal. Talent has been a close adviser to Romney on national security issues since he ran for president four years ago, and accompanied the candidate when he met British leaders during his trip overseas earlier this year …
One leading candidate — that is, if President Obama is re-elected next month — is Michèle Flournoy, who served as the Pentagon’s undersecretary for policy from the beginning of Obama’s term until last February, reports the National Journal. If Flournoy, who now advises the president’s campaign on national security issues, succeeds Leon Panetta, she would become the first woman to head the Pentagon. She previously served as DOD’s principal deputy assistant secretary for strategy and threat reduction …
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta on Friday thanked elected officials and business leaders in Hampton Roads for their long-running support of service members stationed there and pledged to preserve the region’s military presence. “Simply put, this region houses perhaps the greatest concentration of military might in the world. And the support offered by this community to its service members, its veterans, to their families, is an incredibly important part of what makes this area the strategic national asset that it is …
As the Defense Department, its installations and defense communities adjust to a fiscal environment marked by uncertainty, one lesson is becoming clear — the role of communities, states and the private sector in supporting DOD is more important than ever, noted ADC President John Armbrust on Monday during the association’s 2012 Annual Conference. In recognition of the closer link between communities and the military, it makes sense to establish a new framework for the partnership between the Pentagon and America’s defense communities, Armbrust said just prior to introducing the morning’s keynote speaker, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta …
Next month’s program for the 2012 ADC Annual Conference in Monterey will be packed with high-profile speakers from across DOD, topped off by Secretary Panetta, who will deliver the meeting’s keynote address. Panetta, a native of Monterey, is intimately familiar with the gamut of issues affecting defense communities, particularly BRAC redevelopment, and growth and mission support. When Fort Ord was recommended for closure in the 1991 round of BRAC, he spearheaded the region’s response and initial recovery efforts …
The Senate Thursday confirmed several of President Obama’s nominees for top Pentagon posts, including Frank Kendall III to be undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics, and Erin Conaton to become undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness. Kendall has been in the post in an “acting” capacity, and fills the vacancy created when Ashton Carter was sworn in as deputy defense secretary in October. Starting in March 2010, Kendall served as the principal deputy undersecretary for the department, which is responsible for overseeing DOD’s installations and environment office …
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta last week assured Alaska Sen. Mark Begich that the Pentagon would provide its rationale for its proposal to relocate a squadron of F-16s from Eielson Air Force Base in Fairbanks to Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage. Begich had asked the Air Force for the justification it relied on since officials included the realignment in the force structure changes they announced in February …