Turnover at top DOD, DHS S&T posts

The two top Pentagon positions for policy and budget will soon have new faces as Undersecretary of Defense for Policy James Miller and longtime Defense Department Comptroller Bob Hale both step down. The news comes amid a number of other staffing changes at DOD.

Miller announced his resignation in December, and Hale's announcement comes as President Barack Obama on Jan. 30 nominated Mike McCord, principal deputy undersecretary of Defense, to succeed Hale.

McCord's nomination was announced alongside a number of other high-level positions.

Christine Wormuth has been nominated replace Miller, the latest in a recent series of women to ascend to the Pentagon's highest ranks. Christine Fox was appointed acting deputy secretary in December, the same month Deborah Lee James was confirmed as Air Force secretary. In the Jan. 30 announcement, Obama also nominated Miranda Ballentine, currently working in the private sector, to be assistant secretary of the Air Force for installations, environment and logistics.

Wormuth has been at DOD since 2009; since 2012 she has served as deputy undersecretary of Defense for strategy, plans and forces.

Obama also nominated a deputy for Wormuth. Brian McKeon, currently multi-hatted at the White House as deputy assistant to the president, executive secretary of the National Security Council and chief of staff for the National Security Staff, has been nominated as principle deputy undersecretary of Defense for policy.

In another Pentagon departure, Reginald Brothers, deputy assistant secretary for research, will head to the Homeland Security Department as undersecretary for science and technology, if confirmed by the Senate.