Petraeus switches from army to CIA

Announcing his retirement at a ceremony yesterday, Gen Petraeus said supporting troops and their families must be the nation’s “paramount objective” even as defence budgets are reduced.

Spending cuts also must not undercut the versatility and flexibility that the army and other services have developed in fighting insurgencies in Iraq and Afghanistan, he told the ceremony on a sunny military parade field near Washington after 37 years in uniform.

He said: “As our nation contemplates difficult budget decisions, I know that our leaders will remember that our men and women in uniform, are our military, and that taking care of them and their families must be our paramount objective.

“Beyond that it will be imperative to maintain a force that not only capitalises on the extraordinary experience and expertise in our ranks today but also maintains the versatility and flexibility that have been developed over the past decade.”

The Pentagon is already preparing to reduce defence spending by upwards of $400 billion over the next ten years, and Congress may demand even bigger cuts.

Gen Petraeus looked back over his celebrated career, which began when he was commissioned a second lieutenant after graduating from the US Military Academy in June 1974. He recalled the unease he felt on his first day at the academy and the pride he felt in soldiering for nearly four decades.

He takes over as director of the Central Intelligence Agency next week, succeeding Leon Panetta, who gave up the spy chief job to become defence secretary last month.

Gen Petraeus thanked those he has served with and said he leaves with confidence that the nation will avoid unwise decisions on defence spending cuts. He alluded to the difficulties the military faced at the outset of the Iraq and Afghan conflicts in adjusting to counter-insurgency warfare.

“We have relearned since 9/11 the timeless lesson that we don’t always get to fight the wars for which we are most prepared or most inclined,” he said. “Given that reality, we will need to maintain the full-spectrum capability that we have developed over this last decade of conflict.”

The Petraeus ceremony was hosted by deputy defence secretary William Lynn, who presented the general with a Distinguished Service Medal, and Admiral Mike Mullen, who heaped praise on the man many had expected to succeed Mr Mullen as chairman of the joint chiefs of staff.

Gen Petraeus, 58, will take over at the spy agency next week. He has said he chose to serve there as a civilian in order not to blur the distinction between the military and the intelligence worlds.

In his remarks, Adm Mullen called Gen Petraeus a visionary and a “national treasure”.

Gen Petraeus will take over at the CIA less than a week before the tenth anniversary of the terrorist attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania.

Close friends and colleagues of Gen Petraeus say that when he realised the White House would not make him chairman of the joint chiefs, the top US military position, he saw the CIA as the best alternative.

“I wanted this job,” he told senators at his confirmation hearing, saying he had discussed the CIA post with President Barack Obama’s administration for months.

Gen Petraeus soared to public acclaim in 2007-8 with his surprising success in reversing an escalation of insurgent violence in Iraq.

He is credited with similarly solidifying gains against the Taleban in Afghanistan, though he himself says progress is “fragile and reversible”.