Bob Work Expected To Be Named Deputy SecDef

It’s finally almost official. Bob Work, former under secretary of the Navy, will be Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel’s right hand man in the Pentagon, succeeding Ash Carter as deputy secretary of defense.

"Bob Work is expected to be nominated as early as this week," a senior administration official confirmed to Defense One.

Work is CEO of the Center for a New American Security, whose center-left brain trust has populated dozens of top national security posts in the Obama administration, including Michele Flournoy, the former DOD policy chief and now perennial short-lister for a defense secretary cabinet post. Work is a Marine Corps veteran and was Obama’s Navy undersecretary for four years.

Christine Fox, who led Hagel’s Strategic Choices and Management Review earlier this year, has been serving as acting Deputy Defense Secretary since Carter retired in early December.

President Barack Obama could nominate Work as early as Wednesday, according to Bloomberg News, which confirmed the long-whispered personnel move on Tuesday. If nominated, Work must be confirmed by the Senate.