This story has been updated from its original version.

By Jolie Lee
Web Editor
Federal News Radio

Defense Department Inspector General Gordon Heddell is stepping down next month.

In an email to staff on Tuesday, Heddell said, “It is with very mixed emotions that I announce to you today that I have advised President Obama and Secretary Panetta that I intend to step down as Inspector General of the Department of Defense on December 24, 2011.”

“Next month I will have been in public service for almost 43 years – 11 as an Inspector General, plus 28 with the Secret Service and four as an Army aviator. My family obligations make this the right time for me to pursue a new career challenge, but it’s difficult to imagine that any other job could be more rewarding than working as the DoD Inspector General,” Heddell wrote.

He added, “While this is the right time for me personally, it is also the right time for the organization.”

Heddell was sworn in as IG in 2009. Previously, he had served as the IG at the Labor Department.

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