Director Of Defense Intelligence Agency Announces Retirement

[May 01, 2014]  WASHINGTON (Reuters) — The director of the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency and his deputy both announced on Wednesday they planned to retire this year, a Pentagon spokesman said.

Lieutenant General Mike Flynn and his deputy, David Shedd, announced the decision in a memorandum to the agency's workforce, Pentagon spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby said.

He gave no explanation for their departure. The Washington Post said Flynn was leaving more than a year before he was scheduled to depart amid clashes over his leadership style.

Kirby said plans for replacements for Flynn and Shedd would be announced later.

Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said in a statement that Flynn earned a reputation throughout his career "as a dedicated visionary who pushed the intelligence enterprise to anticipate and prepare for the threat environment of the future."

(Reporting by David Alexander and Mark Hosenball; editing by David Storey, James Dalgleish and Peter Cooney)

[© 2014 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2014 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.