With reports that President Obama will nominate Ashton Carter as next Secretary of Defense, many reports:  

The New York Times reports: “President Obama has selected Ashton B. Carter to be the next defense secretary, senior administration officials said on Tuesday, elevating a physicist and the Pentagon’s former chief weapons buyer to succeed Chuck Hagel, who was ousted last week.”  

“As a former deputy defense secretary with a long history at the Pentagon, Mr. Carter helped accelerate the production and shipment of weaponry and armored vehicles to protect American troops from roadside bombs during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Now, as the American military is building up again in Iraq, this time to fight Sunni militants with the Islamic State, Mr. Carter must manage the war effort as well as the intense budget pressures on the Pentagon in the face of mandatory spending cuts.”  

The Washington Post reports: “Ashton B. Carter is considered one of the country’s top administrators and students of military technology.”  

“Carter, an Oxford and Yale-educated physicist, served as the undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics from April 2009 until October 2011, as the Pentagon ended its eight-year war in Iraq and surged thousands of additional troops into Afghanistan. The job required him to find ways to rush into the field new equipment that was needed by troops and to prepare for emerging national security issues, including cyber warfare and the proliferation of drones.”  

A Slate headline states: “Super-Smart Mega-Genius Ashton Carter Expected to Replace Hagel as Defense Secretary”