Gov. Mike Pence Thursday named Brigadier General Courtney Carr the new head of the Indiana National Guard.
The longtime guard member will take over next month, replacing Maj. General R. Martin Umbarger as Adjutant General, who has served in the position since 2004.
General Carr currently works at the Pentagon as a U.S. Army deputy director. He has more than 30 years of military service, including two decades with the Indiana National Guard.
Gov. Pence lauded Carr's leadership, making note of his command in 2007 of forty-five hundred Indiana soldiers in Iraq.
"In what would become the largest deployment of the Indiana National Guard since World War II, it was General Carr who led with great distinction the 76th infantry in Operation Iraqi Freedom," Pence says.
Carr says his administration will focus on responding to challenges created by national pressure for a reduction in military spending.
"Our fiscal challenges will require us to be creative and innovative in maintaining that readiness and training capability," he says.