Pentagon says ready to brief Obama

WASHINGTON, Nov. 5 (UPI) -- The U.S. Department of Defense says it is ready to begin military briefings immediately for U.S. President-elect Barack Obama's transition team.

Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said Wednesday the Defense Department has made extensive plans for a "smooth transition" from the administration of Republican President George Bush to that of his Democratic successor.

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Whitman said, has begun early preparations to minimize disruptions as the administrations change.

"One of the important components of this is ensuring that we've identified and highlighted some of the key department events, actions (and) milestones that a new administration will face in its first 90 days," he said.

He described the Pentagon's five main transition goals as maintaining continuity of operations; assuring efficient transition of outgoing leadership; assuring the efficient in-processing of the incoming leaders; transferring information to the new administration, and focusing on existing programs while allowing the Obama administration to "focus on its governing processes."