President Bush will nominate Army Lt. Gen. Claude Milton “Mickey” Kicklighter of Georgia to be the Pentagon’s new inspector general, the White House announced Thursday.
Kicklighter, a native of Glennville, would lead investigations into Pentagon programs and contracts. The latest report from the Inspector General’s office criticized the Bush administration for setting up an office at the Pentagon that screened intelligence about Iraq from the Central Intelligence Agency and others prior to the war.
Kicklighter is currently director of the Iraq-Afghanistan Transition Planning Group after having acted as a special advisor to the State Department on security operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
He served as chief of staff at the U. S. Department of Veterans Affairs. In 2005, Bush nominated Kicklighter to serve on the military base closing commission because a previous nominee, Air Force Gen. Lloyd Newton of Connecticut, did not clear the approval process quickly enough. Newton eventually was approved, and Kicklighter gave up the seat to him.
Kicklighter would replace acting Inspector General Thomas Gimble, who has served since the 2005 resignation of Joseph Schmitz.
Among his early assignments, Kicklighter commanded the Division Artillery for the 24th Infantry Division at Fort Stewart from 1977 to 1978, and later commanded the 25th Infantry Division.
He has been assigned as director for security assistance for the U.S. Army Security Assistance Center and chief of staff for the U.S. Army Material Development and Readiness Command in Alexandria, Virginia. He has also served as assistant deputy chief of staff for logistics and director of the Army Staff for the Office of Chief of Staff in Washington, D.C.
He is married to the former Elizabeth Exley, and they have three adult children. His brother is Robert Kicklighter of Glennville.
Kicklighter, a native of Glennville, would lead investigations into Pentagon programs and contracts. The latest report from the Inspector General’s office criticized the Bush administration for setting up an office at the Pentagon that screened intelligence about Iraq from the Central Intelligence Agency and others prior to the war.
Kicklighter is currently director of the Iraq-Afghanistan Transition Planning Group after having acted as a special advisor to the State Department on security operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
He served as chief of staff at the U. S. Department of Veterans Affairs. In 2005, Bush nominated Kicklighter to serve on the military base closing commission because a previous nominee, Air Force Gen. Lloyd Newton of Connecticut, did not clear the approval process quickly enough. Newton eventually was approved, and Kicklighter gave up the seat to him.
Kicklighter would replace acting Inspector General Thomas Gimble, who has served since the 2005 resignation of Joseph Schmitz.
Among his early assignments, Kicklighter commanded the Division Artillery for the 24th Infantry Division at Fort Stewart from 1977 to 1978, and later commanded the 25th Infantry Division.
He has been assigned as director for security assistance for the U.S. Army Security Assistance Center and chief of staff for the U.S. Army Material Development and Readiness Command in Alexandria, Virginia. He has also served as assistant deputy chief of staff for logistics and director of the Army Staff for the Office of Chief of Staff in Washington, D.C.
He is married to the former Elizabeth Exley, and they have three adult children. His brother is Robert Kicklighter of Glennville.