Former Defense Secretary Ash Carter dies; he served last two years of Obama administration

WASHINGTON – Former Defense Secretary Ash Carter, who served in the final two years of the Obama administration, died Monday, according to a statement from his family.

Carter oversaw the initial Pentagon effort to attack the Islamic State militants who had seized huge chunks of Iraq and Syria in 2014 and had established a caliphate. In an earlier Pentagon post, Carter took the lead on the military's efforts to protect troops from roadside bombs in Iraq and Afghanistan. Since 2017, Carter led the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard’s Kennedy School.

Carter died of a "sudden cardiac event" Monday evening in Boston, according to the family's statement. He was 68.

"He was a beloved husband, father, mentor, and friend," the statement said. "His sudden loss will be felt by all who knew him."

A Rhodes Scholar and theoretical physicist, Carter had served in several senior posts at the Pentagon, including overseeing weapons acquisition and as deputy secretary before Obama nominated him for the top job. Unlike many of his predecessors, including Obama's previous three defense chiefs, Carter had not served in the military.

Carter helped spearhead the Pentagon's effort to field Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles for troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. In an interview in 2012, Carter, as Deputy Defense Secretary, told USA TODAY that troops traveling in the trucks were 14 times more likely to survive a bomb blast than those in Humvees. Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates had made MRAPs the Pentagon's top priority after reading USA TODAY's reporting on the trucks. Gates credited MRAPs with saving thousands of lives.

Carter pushed the Pentagon to deploy more surveillance equipment to battlefields to protect troops and became involved in efforts to train and deploy bomb-sniffing dogs.

President Obama nominated Carter to be Defense Secretary in November 2014. Beginning in 2015, Carter ushered in major changes to the way the military treated troops. All combat jobs were opened to women, transgender troops were allowed to serve openly and the military's retirement system was modified to allow 401(k)s for service members.

In late 2015, Carter ordered the deployment of special operations troops, backed by a U.S.-led bombing campaign, to train and assist local ground forces retaking ground from ISIS militants. The campaign ultimately rolled back ISIS gains and eliminated their brutal caliphate governing structure, although militants remain.

Obama on Tuesday praised Carter for making America and the world safer.

"As president, I relied on Ash’s strategic counsel as we invested in innovation and a stronger, smarter, more humane, and more effective military for the long term," Obama said in a statement. "Under his leadership, America accelerated its counterterrorism efforts, opened combat roles to women, modernized its weapons systems, and strengthened our alliances around the world."

Carter is survived by his wife, Stephanie, and his children, Ava and Will.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Ash Carter, Obama's defense secretary, dies at 68