Washington : US Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton Carter announced his resignation , saying “it is time for me to go” after a four-year stint at the Pentagon.As per the announcement he will step down in December.
Carter, a physicist and historian by training, began his tenure as deputy defense secretary in October 2011 while Leon Panetta was the Pentagon chief. For two years prior, he served as the undersecretary of defense for acquisition and technology. He also served in the Pentagon in the 1990s.
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has “reluctantly accepted” his decision to step down, Xinhua reported.
Carter, now 59, “possesses an unparalleled knowledge of every facet of America's defense enterprise, having worked directly and indirectly for eleven secretaries of defense over the course of his storied career,” Hagel said in a statement.
The exact reason for Carter's departure was not immediately known. It was also unclear who might replace him.
Carter has served as the Pentagon's second-ranking official for two years under Hagel and his predecessor Leon Panetta.
Before that, he was undersecretary of defense for acquisition technology and logistics under Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates. As undersecretary, Carter worked to increase the department's buying power and to strengthen America's defenses against cybersecurity.
