Nomination of Obama announced 33 years . `` I can think of no one more qualified than Obama to take on this important job , '' Obama says . Harding , who served 33 years in Army , would be the TSA 's first Republican administrator . From 1996 to 2000 , Harding was director for operations at the Defense Intelligence Agency , where he was the Defense Department 's senior human intelligence officer . He once was Army senior human intelligence officer .
Nomination of Obama announced 33 years . `` I can think of no one more qualified than Obama to take on this important job , '' Obama says . Harding , who served 33 years in Army , would be the TSA 's first Republican administrator . He once was Army senior human intelligence officer .