President Obama has nominated Robert Work to be the next Deputy Secretary of Defense.
Work would succeed Ashton Carter who stepped down late last year. Christine Fox, who has been serving as Acting Deputy Secretary, will continue in that position until Work is confirmed.
In a press conference last week, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel called Work “a highly respected and nationally recognized strategic thinker, practitioner, and expert on national security, as well as budgeting, technology, military affairs.” Work “will bring to the deputy's role the essential qualities required to help lead our national defense enterprise at a very, very challenging time,” Hagel added.
Work is currently the Chief Executive Officer at the Center for a New American Security, a position he has held since last year. He served as the Under Secretary of the Navy from 2009 until 2013. Prior to that, Work served as a Senior Fellow for Maritime Affairs and Vice President for Strategic Studies for the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments (CSBA). Work served on President Obama’s DoD transition team in 2008 and has also been an adjunct professor for Defense Analysis and Roles and Missions of the Armed Forces at the George Washington University.
He is a 27-year veteran of the Marine Corps. In his last military assignment, Work served as Military Assistant and Senior Aide to then Secretary of the Navy Richard Danzig.
