Bryan Whitman today takes control of the Pentagon’s public affairs office, replacing Dorrance Smith as the assistant secretary of public affairs.
In a memo circulated Oct. 30, Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England said Whitman, the current deputy, would manage the day-to-day operations of the Pentagon office. England will maintain control over personnel and budget issues, the memo said.
Smith announced his resignation earlier this month, telling his staff that he has mostly accomplished what the defense secretary has asked him to do, and will return to private life. Smith replaced Victoria Clarke, who resigned in June 2003 (Defense Daily, Oct. 16).
The shuffling of the Pentagon’s image-making office came the same day that Karen Hughes, the State Department under secretary for public diplomacy and public affairs, told reporters she will resign in mid-December.
In a briefing yesterday, Hughes said she is returning to private life with her husband in Texas.
Hughes previously was a counselor to President Bush at the White House. She also worked with Bush as his director of communications when he was the governor of Texas.
This week, the Pentagon announced another significant staffing change.
The President has nominated Army Lt. Gen. Thomas F. Metz to replace retired Gen. Montgomery Meigs as the director of the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization.
Metz, the deputy commanding general of Army Training and Doctrine Command, previously served as the commander of Multi-National Corps-Iraq.
His experience as a commander at every level and the experience leading troops affected by improvised explosive devices makes him “an outstanding leader and person to fill the position,” said Maj. Patrick Ryder, a Pentagon spokesman, said yesterday.
Metz won the job over other active duty and retired military officials as well as senior government executives, according to Ryder.
Meigs was brought in to lead the office in 2005. At the time, it was called the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Task Force and led by Brig. Gen. Joseph Votel. The administration chose Meigs, a retired four-star, seeking an official with the connections and experience that come with a higher rank to confront the problem of the biggest killer of American forces in Iraq.
Ryder could not say when Metz’s promotion would move forward, saying that the transition plan is still being finalized.