Ash Carter was sworn in as the 25th Secretary of Defense Tuesday morning, taking over from his predecessor, Chuck Hagel, who was forced out by President Barack Obama. According to Obama, Carter is expected to “hit the ground running.”
Speaking of hitting the ground, on their way to the nation’s capital, Carter’s wife Stephanie “slipped and fell on the icy pavement” according to a report from The Associated Press. However, Stephanie indicated to officials she was not hurt by the fall.
Despite heavy snow which closed the rest of the federal government, Ash Carter was able to make it to the White House Ceremony with Vice President Joe Biden where he finally took the oath office as Obama’s fourth Secretary of Defense in just 6 years, according to a press release from the Department of Defense.
“If anyone is made for this job, if there’s a job description that fits a person, this is the guy that fits the job description,” Biden stated at the ceremony, according to The Hill.
In a message to DOD personnel after being sworn in, Carter described military service as the highest calling before immediately transitioning to the threats the nation faces.
“We confront a turbulent and dangerous world: continuing turmoil in the Middle East and North Africa, and the malignant and savage terrorism emanating from it; an ongoing conflict in Afghanistan; a reversion to archaic security thinking in parts of Europe; tensions in the Asia-Pacific; the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction; and intensifying threats in cyberspace,” he stated.
Not wasting a moment of time, Carter jumped into a series of meetings with Deputy Defense Secretary Robert Work, who recently warned about lagging technological developments in the military, as well as Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus, Air Force Secretary Deborah James, and Army Secretary John McHugh. (RELATED: If Sequestration Hits, Russia And China May Beat Our Military Technology, Top Pentagon Official Says)
He is set to meet privately with Obama later this afternoon.
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