Jessica Wright, top Pentagon personnel official, set to retire next year

Jessica Wright, who's served as the undersecretary of Defense for personnel and readiness since January 2013, announced on Thursday that she'll be retiring at t...

Just as Ashton Carter, the likely successor to Chuck Hagel, begins his tenure as Defense secretary, he’ll be in the market to replace one of his most senior deputies.

Jessica Wright, who’s served as the undersecretary of Defense for personnel and readiness since January 2013, announced on Thursday that she’ll be retiring at the end of March.

Hagel, speaking at a Pentagon briefing on the military’s latest sexual assault statistics, said he had asked Wright to stay in her position until a review team on sexual assault had finished its work, and she agreed.

Wright’s departure caps 40 years of government service, including as assistant secretary of Defense for reserve affairs and 35 years in the Army before that. She retired from uniformed service as the adjutant general of the Pennsylvania National Guard.

This post is part of Jared Serbu’s Inside the DoD Reporter’s Notebook feature. Read more from this edition of Jared’s Notebook.

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