Former Defense Secretary Ash Carter, who opened combat jobs to women and ended a ban on transgender people serving in the military, has died at age 68. (Read More Here).
Carter died Monday evening after suffering a heart attack in Boston, his family said in a statement Tuesday.
Known as a defense thinker and strategist, Carter was a nuclear expert, three-time Pentagon executive, budget guru and academician who had served as a defense civilian in the building over a period of 35 years.
Gen. Martin Dempsey, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, noted at Carter’s retirement ceremony in 2017 that his focus on the less glamourous aspects of the job such as people management had made him known as the “most important, least known figure in Washington.”
Gen. Martin Dempsey, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, noted at Carter’s retirement ceremony in 2017 that his focus on the less glamourous aspects of the job such as people management had made him known as the “most important, least known figure in Washington.”
Carter had not previously served in the military but mastered the nuts and bolts of the Defense Department, a skill set that helped him quietly shape notable change, particularly when it came to who was allowed to serve in uniform.
In December 2015, after three years of study and debate, Carter ordered the military to open all jobs to women, removing the final barriers that kept women from serving in combat, including the most dangerous and grueling commando posts.
“I made the decision to admit women to all military specialties without exception,” Carter said in a later interview on the decision. “They are 50% of the population. We can’t afford to leave off the table half of the population who can, if they’re the ones who have the best qualifications, do the job.”
The following year, Carter was responsible for ending the ban on transgender troops, saying it was the right thing to do.
“Americans who want to serve and can meet our standards should be afforded the opportunity to compete to do so,” Carter said in June 2016, laying out a one-year plan to implement the change. “Our mission is to defend this country, and we don’t want barriers unrelated to a person’s qualification to serve preventing us from recruiting or retaining the soldier, sailor, airman or Marine who can best accomplish the mission.”
Before Carter was named defense secretary by President Barack Obama, he served in the Obama administration as the Pentagon’s top procurement officer and oversaw the department’s effort to speed more than 24,000 Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles to Iraq and Afghanistan during the height of both conflicts to better protect U.S. troops.
At the time, thousands of U.S. troops were being maimed or killed by roadside bombs because there was not adequate protection in the vehicles they were operating. Carter frequently mentioned the rapid development and procurement of those vehicles as one of his proudest accomplishments.
“At peak production, the United States shipped over 1,000 MRAPs a month to theater. And there, they saved lives,” Carter said at a 2012 ceremony marking the completion of the vehicle production. “And you all know me, I would have driven one in here today, if I could get it through the door.”
In lauding his contribution to the nation’s defense, President Joe Biden on Tuesday said Carter took seriously his “sacred obligation” to the men and women in uniform.
In so doing, Mr Carter overrode a request by the Marine Corps to exempt women from certain roles, including in infantry and machine gunnery. “We are a joint force and I have decided to make a decision which applies to the entire force,” he said at the time.
But Mr Carter’s legacy may lie in his efforts to ensure a “lasting defeat” for Islamic State, something he later called “one of the defining issues of my time as secretary”.
Taking the reins at a time when the US and its coalition partners still lacked a comprehensive plan for success on the battlefield, he helped launch an “accelerated” campaign to liberate IS strongholds and force the group’s fighters from the pockets of territory they controlled.
IS no longer controls large swathes of Iraq and Syria as it did at the height of its power. The group lost its last territory in Syria in 2019, but small cells of its fighters continue to carry out attacks in both countries.
A statement from Mr Obama lauded Mr Carter as a leader who made the world “safer” during his lifetime.
“Under his leadership, America accelerated its counterterrorism efforts, opened combat roles to women, modernised its weapons systems, and strengthened our alliances around the world, ” said Mr Obama, adding his condolences to the Carter family.
According to the DoD’s website, Mr Carter was “in direct and indirect service of eleven secretaries of defence in both Democratic and Republican Administrations” over a career that spanned three decades.
After leaving government, he led the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University’s Kennedy School.
“He devoted his professional life to the national security of the United States and teaching students about international affairs,” his family said in a statement. “His sudden loss will be felt by all who knew him.”
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