Robert Carey plans to leave his post as the Defense Department’s principal deputy chief information officer March 28, a Pentagon spokesman confirmed.
Rob Carey, DOD’s departing principal deputy chief information officer.FedScoop first learned of the pending change March 13, but officials would not comment publicly on the timing or the reasons behind the decision.
“I can confirm Rob Carey is retiring this Friday after 31 years of federal service,” Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. Damien Pickart told FedScoop in an email. Pickart said he did not have any information on Carey’s reasons for retiring.
Carey did not respond to direct telephone calls and emails from FedScoop.
Carey began his career in 1982 with the U.S. Army and eventually served as the CIO of the Navy from 2006 to 2010. Since taking the deputy CIO post at the Pentagon in October 2010, Carey has been a frequent and often outspoken participant at government and industry IT events held throughout the country.
Carey is credited with championing a wide variety of technology transformations throughout DOD, including enterprise services, information security, smart cards, and most recently cyber-workforce issues.
FedScoop most recently caught up with Carey in December when he participated in a panel session focused on small business opportunities in DOD. It was during that panel session Carey jokingly referred to the new sequestration-era precious metal discovered in DOD known as “unaffordium.”
