Pentagon names new press secretary

The Defense Department has named Rear Adm. John Kirby as the Pentagon’s press secretary, officially replacing former spokesman George Little, who left the department in December. 

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel tapped Kirby, who currently heads the Navy public affairs shop, for the position on Friday. 

{mosads}During his tenure at the Pentagon, including a stint alongside Little as former Pentagon chief Leon Panetta’s top spokesmen, Kirby “has long been a trusted voice for the Department of Defense and is one of its leading public affairs officers,” according to the Pentagon. 

Little announced he was departing the Pentagon in November, after arriving at the department from CIA with Panetta in 2011. 

He stayed on as the department’s top press representative for Hagel when the former Nebraska Republican took the top job at the Defense Department in February. 

Kirby’s promotion is only the latest senior position Pentagon and service leaders have filled in recent days. The Senate voted 79-6 early Friday morning to confirm Deborah James as the next secretary of the Air Force.

James, now with Science Applications International Corp., was an assistant secretary of Defense in the Clinton administration. Her confirmation followed a drawn-out process that might now become routine in the post-“nuclear option” Senate, even for nominees like James who enjoy bipartisan support.

Earlier this year, Hagel named Christine Fox will replace outgoing Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton Carter. 

Fox, who led the department’s cost assessment and program evaluation shop, took the reins as the Pentagon’s No. 2 leader in December. 

Obama administration has yet to select a nominee to permanently take the deputy defense secretary slot. 

The Obama administration has also yet to name replacements for former Pentagon policy chief Jim Miller, head of special operations and low-intensity conflicts at the Pentagon Michael Sheehan, and Department of Defense Deputy Chief Management Officer Beth McGrath.