When AgBank first approached him about moving over to run its IPO, officials initially offered him a position as assistant to the bank's chairman, people familiar with the situation say.

据知情人士透露，当农行最初找到他，希望将他挖过去负责农行IPO时，一开始提出的是让他担任农行董事长助理。

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John Pustay, assistant to the chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff and president, National Defense University.

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Mike Davidson, former assistant to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, notes that Gates is respected among military officers.

NPR: What to Expect from a Gates Pentagon

DuGan, who started out as an assistant to the chairman right out of college in 1988, never received a formal anointing, Carey says.

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