Carter takes over at Pentagon, promises “leadership, focus”

Ashton Carter was sworn in Tuesday as the nation’s new defense secretary and addressed the Pentagon’s employees in a letter in which he promised “leadership and focus” to confront the department’s security and budgetary challenges.

After taking the oath of office at a private White House ceremony with Vice President Joe Biden, Carter addressed the Defense Department’s more than two million military and civilian employees to outline his priorities.

“Our first priority is helping the President make the best possible national security decisions for protecting our country,” he said in his letter.

The new Pentagon chief noted that the United States continues to face “a dangerous world” where terrorism is feeding upon the instability of the Middle East and Northern Africa, the Afghanistan crisis is still under way, along with tensions in the AsiaPacific region and in Europe, the proliferation of weaponry and cybernetic threats.

Carter, who replaces Chuck Hagel in the post, said that military personnel will receive the assistance they need to carry out their work and promised to give “the greatest reflection and utmost care” to deciding whether or not to send troops into combat situations.

“I will ensure your training and equipment are as superb as you are,” said Carter, who has worked at the Pentagon for more than 30 years and was the No. 2 official there from 2011 to 2013, as well as the head of acquisitions and armaments.

Carter also promised to continue building a strong military, adding that “we must steer through the turmoil of sequestration, which imposes wasteful uncertainty and risk to our nation’s defense. We must balance all parts of our defense budget so that we continue to attract the best people.”

“We must show that we can make better use of every taxpayer dollar. That means a leaner organization, less overhead, and reforming our business and acquisition practices,” he said.

The new defense chief, a technocrat who was trained as a nuclear physicist, was unanimously confirmed by the Senate last week after President Barack Obama nominated him to succeed Hagel, who resigned last November.