Leon Panetta

Leon Panetta served as the 23rd United States Secretary of Defense from 2011 to 2013. He oversaw the final removal of American troops from Iraq as well as the beginning of troop withdrawals from Afghanistan. He led the effort to develop a new defense strategy to advance greater agility, protect national security and meet fiscal discipline, opened up new opportunities for everyone to serve in the military and protected benefits for wounded warriors and their families. Before joining the Department of Defense, Secretary Panetta served as the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency from 2009 to 2011. Secretary Panetta led the agency and managed human intelligence and open source collection programs on behalf of the intelligence community, and placed an emphasis on more racial diversity and increased language training for officers in the Agency. Most notably, he was responsible for overseeing the operation that resulted in bringing Osama bin Laden to justice.