Donald Winter, resigned as Navy Secretary March 13, as he had planned. “As I relinquish my duties as Secretary of the Navy, I count myself blessed for having had the opportunity to serve as your Secretary,” he said in a release to sailors and marines. Winter assumed the post as 74th Navy Secretary in January 2006. He had agreed to remain in office until March 13 to ease the transition inside the Pentagon as the Obama Administration assembled its defense leadership team. B.J. Penn will serve as acting Navy Secretary until the Senate confirms a yet-to-be-announced nominee whom President Obama will select. Unlike Winter, Air Force Secretary Michael Donley agreed to stay on indefinitely in the new Administration. And, Pete Geren remains Army Secretary for the time being.
Gen. Dan Caine was confirmed as the 22nd Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff by the Senate early April 11, making history as the first Air National Guardsman to take on the nation's top uniformed job.