Defense Secretary Leon Panetta this week named former secretary of state Madeleine Albright and former Chief of Naval Operations Gary Roughead to the Defense Policy Board.

Also appointed to the board were former representative Jane Harman (D-Calif.), former deputy attorney general Jamie Gorelick, and James Cartwright, the retired Marine general who served as vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

The board is designed to provide Panetta and other top Pentagon officials with independent advice on issues related to defense policy. The panel is chaired by John Hamre, the president and CEO of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.