Obama taps ex-defense official as new defense secretary

President Barack Obama on Friday officially named former deputy defense secretary Ashton Carter as his pick to lead the U.S. military.

Obama said Carter is “rightly regarded as one of our nation’s foremost national security leaders” during an announcement ceremony at the White House. 

Carter served as deputy defense secretary from 2011-2013, and previously served at the Pentagon under former President Bill Clinton.

“He knows the Department of Defense inside and out, which means that on day one, he’s going to hit the ground running,” Obama said. When talking to Carter about the job, Obama emphasized the need to "make smart choices precisely because there are so many challenges out there."

Carter, an academic and physicist, said that he accepted the offer because "of my regard for his leadership," referring to Obama. "I accepted it because of the seriousness of the strategic challenges we face, but also the bright opportunities that exist for America if we can come together to grab hold of them."

Unlike every individual who has helmed the Pentagon in the last 30 plus years, the 60-year-old Carter has not served in either the military or Congress. Current Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel served in both.

Hagel was noticeably absent at Friday’s ceremony. He resigned last month after a rocky relationship with the administration's national security team, particularly National Security Advisor Susan Rice. 

It’s widely believed that Hagel was forced out of the administration due to his personal conflicts with the team.

A defense official told a White House pool reporter that Hagel was not present at Friday’s ceremony so that attention could be squarely focused on Carter.

Anthony Cordesman, the Arleigh A. Burke Chair in Strategy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank, said that it is too early to tell if Carter will be capable of navigating the personal relations within the administration’s national security team.

“He has an advantage in a way - the president has to be very careful, he can only fire one secretary at a time,” he said. "It’s also generally true that the president has probably perceived that his National Security Council is not particularly popular with the Congress or the Washington community, and it isn’t rated at being particularly effective."

If confirmed by the Senate, Carter would be Obama’s fourth defense chief after Robert Gates, Leon Panetta and Hagel.

He brings with him an extensive history at the Pentagon. In addition to his experience as deputy secretary of defense, Carter was the Pentagon’s head of acquisitions and technology from 2009-2011. And under former President Bill Clinton, Carter was secretary of defense for international security policy from 1993 to 1996.

Lawrence Korb, a former assistant secretary of defense and current senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, said that Carter’s extensive history in the Defense Department has provided valuable experience as he prepares to take the reins at the Pentagon.

“He’s obviously committed. He’s only been out a year or so. He’s familiar with all of the issues, and he’s also very well acquainted with the folks on the National Security Council,” he said.

Outside of his defense career, he holds a doctorate degree in theoretical physics from Oxford University and bachelor's degrees in medieval history and physics from Yale University.

Carter is going to need every advantage possible if confirmed. As the incoming head he will take over a Pentagon that is in the midst of a campaign against ISIL in Iraq and Syria; a transition in Afghanistan from a combat mission to an advise and assist role for Afghan forces; and an internal effort to stem sexual assault in the military - to say nothing of a resurgent Russia.

“The fact is, this is an unstable situation, the new secretary has to be adaptive, and in many ways, the test isn’t going to be whether he can change policies, the fact is whether he can deal with current problems and find the most effective solution,” Cordesman said.

Korb added that Carter’s impact on the administration is likely to be limited as Obama finishes out the final two years of a presidency in which policy has been largely driven from the White House.

“In this administration, more and more policy is made by the National Security Council,” he said.