WASHINGTON, June 21 (UPI) -- The head of the Defense Intelligence Agency. the Pentagon's main intelligence service, has announced his retirement.
Vice Adm. Lowell E. Jacoby, who has served as director of the Defense Intelligence Agency for three years, said he plans to retire on Jan. 1, The New York Times reported Tuesday.
In an e-mail message to agency personnel, Jacoby wrote that he was leaving the military after 37 years of active duty at the end of his tour as head of the Defense Department's intelligence service.
No successor has been announced, the Times said.
In his message, Jacoby cited a number of achievements on his watch as the agency's director but also wrote that "significant work remains to be accomplished."
His retirement opens a third vacancy among directors of U.S. spy agencies, creating an opportunity for President George W. Bush to shape significantly the senior levels of the intelligence bureaucracy under the new position of director of national intelligence.
In addition to the opening created by Jacoby's departure, the top jobs are open at the National Security Agency, which is responsible for electronic intelligence gathering, and at the National Reconnaissance Office, which manages the nation's spy satellites, the Times said.
