Obama picks Raytheon exec for DOD deputy secretary

President-elect Barack Obama plans to nominate Raytheon senior vice president and former Pentagon comptroller William Lynn III to serve as deputy defense secretary.

Lynn is one of four individuals that the president-elect said on Jan. 8 he planned to nominate to senior Defense Department posts.

Lynn is senior vice president for government operations and strategy at Waltham, Mass.-based Raytheon Co. He served as Pentagon Comptroller from 1997 until 2001. Before that, he was director of the DOD’s Program Analysis and Evaluation directorate from 1993 to 1997.

The other nominations are Robert Hale to serve as comptroller, Michele Flourney as undersecretary of defense for policy, and Jeh Johnson to serve as general counsel.

Hale is executive director of the American Society of Military Comptrollers. He was formerly assistant secretary of the Air Force for financial management and comptroller during the Clinton administration.

Flourney is president of the Center for New American Security, a think tank. She held two defense posts simultaneously during the Clinton administration. She was principal deputy assistant secretary of defense for strategy and threat reduction, as well as deputy assistant secretary of defense for strategy. Flourney is the co-chairwoman of Obama’s DOD transition team.

Johnson is a partner with the New York law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP. He has practiced law in both the public and private sectors.

“I am confident that these distinguished individuals have the expertise and commitment needed to help me implement a sustainable national security strategy that combats 21^st-century threats and keeps the American people safe,” Obama said in a statement.