The Pentagon official who proposed including transgender individuals and women in the military announced Monday he will resign from his post next month.
Brad Carson, the Defense Department’s top civilian over personnel policies, will leave the Pentagon in April. Carson had served in that role since 2015 and had been charged with making controversial changes to military policies. He ran into other problems last month when the Senate Armed Services Committee ruled Carson had violated the federal Vacancies Act by taking on responsibilities of the job prior to his confirmation.
“I believe it is a perfect time to move on,” Carson said.
The former Army lawyer proposed policies that would encourage the military to make changes would affect up to 1 million troops, but the transgender reforms have not yet been enacted.
“There are people who say that the Pentagon can never reform itself,” Carson said. “I believe Dr. Carter and our team have shown that it can.”
Todd Harrison, a military budget expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, also praised Carson’s work.
“Carson is one of the good guys who came in to the position really trying to make some lasting change for the better,” Harrison said. “He had been given a mandate by Secretary Carter to be bold and move fast and he did. The problem is that the bureaucrats are entrenched and do not respond well to bold and fast.”
