President Obama Announces Key Changes To National Security Team

In a statement in the East Room of the White House Monday, President Obama announced key changes to the U.S. National Security team.

President Obama with Gates, Panetta, and Patreus. Photo/CD Brown.

The president pegged CIA director, Leon Panetta to be Secretary of Defense, replacing Robert Gates. Gates served 26 years in the CIA and the National Security Council. Under President George H.W. Bush Gates served as Director of Centeral Intelligence.

"I am confident Bob Gates will be remembered as one of the finest Defense Secretaries in American history. And I will always be grateful for his service", said President Obama.

Panetta - a former Republican turned Democrat - has more than 40 years of public service. His career began in the Army as an intelligence officer in the 1960s. Speaking of Gates Panetta said, "He’s a public servant without equal whose tenure as Secretary of Defense will go down as one of the most consequential and important examples of leadership in the history of the American government."

President Obama also nominated General David Patreus to serve as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency.

Petraeus, a highly revered commander, had been serving as U.S. commander in Afghanistan (post Stanley McChrystal). Petraeus has had bouts of illness during his tenure. In 2009 he was diagnosed with early-stage prostate cancer in He underwent two months of successful radiation treatment at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Last June, Petraeus momentarily fainted while being questioned by the Senate Armed Services Committee. He quickly recovered and was able to walk without assistance and attributed the episode to possible dehydration.

In accepting his new position, Petraeus said, "In short, I have enormous respect for the men and women of the agency and, if confirmed, I will do my utmost to serve, to represent, and to lead those great intelligence professionals, as well as to work closely with the DNI and the other intel community leaders, as Director Panetta has done so superbly over the past two and a half years."

President Obama also appointed U.S. Marine Lt. Gen. John Allen to lead the mission in Afghanistan when Petraeus steps down.

With the newly appointed team in place the president called his nominees men with "enormous integrity and talent who’ve devoted their lives to keeping our nation strong and secure."

The president said that with the "urgent challenges" the country is facing that he was "very, very grateful to each of them for accepting these new assignments."

"In Iraq we’re working to bring the rest of our troops home as Iraqis secure their democracy. In Afghanistan we’re moving into a new phase, transferring responsibility for security to Afghan forces, starting to reduce American forces this summer, and building a long-term partnership with the Afghan people."

The president mentioned protecting Libya (though didn't mention how long US forces would remain in the region), and said "it was absolutely critical" that we had this team in place so that we can stay focused on our missions, maintain our momentum, and keep our nation secure".

"We cannot compromise our ability to defend our nation or our interests around the world."

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