Peter Levine, an attorney who serves as Defense Secretary Ash Carter's is the Secretary of Defense' senior adviser on business transformation, has been named to succeed the embattled Brad Carson as fill the role of the Pentagon’s top personnel official, replacing the embattled Brad Carson when Carson leaves April 8, sources said.
He will take over as acting undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness when Carson leaves April 8from Carson April 8, according to a copy of an email Carson sent to his staff, a copy of which was obtained from Carson notifying his staff, obtained by Military Times. Confirmation was not immediately available from defense officials.
Levine is currently the Defense Department’s deputy chief management officer at the Pentagon, receiving Senate confirmation for the post in May 2015. In that role, he has served as the senior adviser to the secretary of defense on business transformation, and is headsing DoD’s efforts to streamline business process and find efficiencies in management, headquarters and overhead functions. He has been also been leading the effort to find taxpayer savings in DoD’s resale operations, including commissaries and exchanges.
Prior to arriving at the Pentagon, Levin served on the staff of the Senate Armed Services Committee for nearly 19 years. He provided legal advice on legislation and nominations, and advised members of the committee on DoD acquisition policy, civilian personnel policy and defense management issues.
Carson, who has been acting undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness since April 2015, . He resigned earlier this month. His chances of Senate approval for the job appeared slim, following a confirmation hearing in February in which where senators accused him of presuming confirmation and violating a once rarely enforced law that bars new appointees from serving in their high-level positions while awaiting the Senate’s formal approval.
Perhaps more problematic has been the There has also been controversy surrounding Carson's his work on the Pentagon’s Force of the Future initiative, aimed at updating the military’s personnel system to better compete with civilian business benefits. Republican senators savaged that plan, and it has faced opposition by some in the Pentagon as well.
Levine has served as deputy chief management officer since he was confirmed by the Senate on May 23, 2015. He has been leading the efforts to find taxpayer savings in DoD's resale operations, including commissaries and exchanges.
Prior to coming to that appointment, Levin serve on the staff of the Senate Armed Services Committee for nearly 19 years. He provided legal advice on legislation and nominations, and advised members of the committee on DoD acquisition policy, civilian personnel policy and defense management issues.
Karen Jowers covers military families, quality of life and consumer issues for Military Times. She can be reached at kjowers@militarytimes.com.
Karen has covered military families, quality of life and consumer issues for Military Times for more than 30 years, and is co-author of a chapter on media coverage of military families in the book "A Battle Plan for Supporting Military Families." She previously worked for newspapers in Guam, Norfolk, Jacksonville, Fla., and Athens, Ga.
