Defense Secretary Carter fires top military aide

[brooklynite]

Source: CNN

Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter announced Thursday that he had fired his senior military assistant, Lt. Gen. Ron Lewis, "after learning about allegations of misconduct."

Details about the alleged misconduct were not immediately available.

As Carter's top military aide, Lewis had power to control the flow of people and issues into Carter's office, as well as controlling the Defense chief's military schedule.

Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2015/11/12/politics/defense-secretary-carter-fires-top-military-aide/index.html

[LiberalArkie]

1. Really strange..

The two men have a long history. Lewis twice previously filled the role of military adviser to Carter, first when Carter was the undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics in 2011, and then assuming the same role when Carter took over as deputy secretary of defense until Lewis redeployed to Afghanistan in early 2012.

Given that connection, Pentagon watchers had identified Lewis as a rising star inside the Pentagon.

Earlier this summer, Andrew Hunter of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, who served under Carter during his tenure as undersecretary of acquisition, technology and logistics, praised Lewis as the type of leader that Carter worked well with.

"It probably wouldn't be a stretch to suggest Ron Lewis is destined for great things," Hunter said in a June interview. "I think he's someone who has that combination of brainpower and ability to do very complex operational jobs."