Two Top VA Slots Filled

President Obama has nominated W. Scott Gould, currently vice president for public sector strategy at IBM Global Business Services, as the next deputy secretary of Veterans Affairs.

VA Secretary Eric K. Shinseki said that Gould, a naval reservist called to active duty in support of operations in Afghanistan, "possesses a unique and wide-ranging set of skills in information technologies, acquisition, budget, human resources and leading the modernization of large, complex organizations."

Unlike his predecessor, James Peake, it sure looks like Shinseki really understands that IT is key to the VA fulfilling the department's mission to care for vets.

Obama also nominated Tammy Duckworth, director of the Illinois Veterans Affairs Department, to be the assistant secretary of public and intergovernmental affairs at VA. Duckworth, an Army National Guard helicopter pilot who lost both legs while flying a combat mission in Iraq in 2004, will direct VA's public affairs, internal communications and intergovernmental relations. She also will oversee programs for homeless Veterans, consumer affairs and special rehabilitative events.

Like Obama, Duckworth has Hawaii and Illinois connections: She has a bachelor's degree from the University of Hawaii and served in the Illinois National Guard.