Newly sworn-in Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter said his tenure would be marked by three principles: Helping President Obama make the “best possible” decisions about the nation’s security; to reflect all of his decisions upon the impact they have on the men and women serving; and to build a force capable of handling future threats.
“We’re entering the fourth quarter of this president’s tenure,” Carter said shortly after Vice President Joe Biden swore him in at the White House as the nation’s 25th secretary of defense. “These commitments I am making help me help him and the vice president ensure those years are productive and that they leave our country’s future in the best possible place.”
Carter’s remarks were short, lasting just over four minutes, as he provided only broad brush strokes as to how he will handle the remaining two years of the president’s term. Carter assumes the helm in a defense environment that is challenged by the potentially surging capabilities of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. aggressive challenges by Russia, technological challenges in China, the potential increase in violent extremist groups in Africa, and a budgetary environment that has stymied the department’s ability to conduct long term strategic planning or acquisitions.
Carter will also assume leadership as a number of potential Pentagon reform efforts are underway, including a potential overhaul of the military retirement and medical systems, and an attempt to reform the Pentagon’s acquisition process.
Carter said his tenure will be marked by “making sure we make the best use of the taxpayer’s dollar. Making sure that we embrace change,” Carter said, so that years from now, the U.S. military will continue “to be a place where America’s finest want to serve.”
Vice President Biden said that Carter is used to uphill battles, and cited his work as under secretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics, where Carter worked to convince Congress to fund 24,000 Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles to help reduce the number of U.S. troops getting maimed or killed by roadside bombs.
Carter’s effort, Biden said, “saved lives and limbs in countless numbers.”
