Obama's announcement followed the resignation of Chuck Hagel, who will remain in office until the U.S. Senate confirms a successor.
Carter served as Deputy Defense Secretary from October 2011 to December 2013, and served as Undersecretary of Defense for acquisition, technology and logistics before that.
In one way or another, Obama said at the White House ceremony, Carter has served 11 Secretaries of Defense. “He's an innovator who helped create the program that has dismantled weapons of mass destruction around the world and reduced the threat of nuclear terrorism,” Obama added.
“He's a reformer who's never been afraid to cancel old or inefficient weapons programs; he knows the Department of Defense inside and out. All of which means that on day one, he's going to hit the ground running,” the US President said.
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said that he supports Carter’s nomination. On November 24, the President accepted Hagel’s resignation as Defense Secretary. Hagel has agreed to stay on until his successor has been confirmed by the U.S. Senate.
Meanwhile, in an unexpected visit to Afghanistan on Saturday, Chuck Hagel announced the delayed withdrawal of up to 1,000 U.S. troops from the country during the transition to Operation Resolute Support.
Speaking during a joint press conference with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani in Kabul, Afghanistan’s capital city, Hagel discussed the reason for the delayed withdrawal of some troops and the transition from NATO’s International Security Assistance Force mission to Operation Resolute Support.
“Last month, thanks to the leadership of President Ghani and Chief Executive Officer Dr. Abdullah Abdullah, the Afghan Parliament overwhelmingly approved the U.S.-Afghanistan Bilateral Security Agreement and the NATO Status of Forces Agreement,” Hagel said.
“However, because of prior delays in signing these agreements, the force generation effort for Resolute Support is several months behind where we hoped it would be at this time,” he aded.
As a result of the delay, Hagel said, President Barack Obama provided U.S. military Commanders with the flexibility to manage any temporary force shortfalls they might experience for a few months as coalition troops to arrive in theater.
Source: DoD News; Photo credit: DoD
