WASHINGTON (AP) -- Stephen A. Cambone, the Pentagon's top intelligence official and a close ally of Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, will step down at the end of the year, becoming the first key department member to leave in the wake of Rumsfeld's resignation. It had been widely speculated that Cambone, the undersecretary of defense for intelligence, would resign as the Pentagon prepares for the expected Senate confirmation of a new defense chief -- former CIA director Robert Gates. The Pentagon's intelligence-gathering has come under fire during Cambone's tenure, with critics accusing the Defense Department of trying to take expanded control over the nation's intelligence activities.
Cambone was in charge of intelligence when it was disclosed a year ago that a Pentagon database of suspicious activities contained the names of anti-war groups that had been found not be security risks. Cambone ordered a review of the program.
Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. Todd Vician said Gates did not request Cambone's resignation. "This was an independent decision," said Vician. "Dr. Cambone decided that now is a good time for a change to enable him to spend more time with his family."
Cambone came to the Pentagon with Rumsfeld in January 2001, and served in three other top level posts before taking over the intelligence job in March 2003.