WASHINGTON -- Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced the first details of a complete Pentagon review of the Fort Hood attack by an Islamic soldier.

Former Army Secretary Togo West and retired Navy Admiral Vernon Clark, former chief of naval operations, will head the initial 45-day review, which will inform a follow-up investigation expected to last four to six months, according to Kruzel.

"The shootings at Fort Hood raise a number of troubling questions that demand complete but prompt answers," Gates said. "It is prudent to determine immediately whether there are internal weaknesses or procedural shortcomings in the department that could make us vulnerable in the future."

The department review is separate from both the criminal investigation of Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan -- the soldier charged with 13 counts of premeditated murder (not including the murder of an unborn baby) -- and a review ordered by President Barack Obama to take a government-wide look at all intelligence related to the incident, according to Kruzel's report.

Initial findings of this review -- mandated by President Obama -- are due by Monday, November 30th. A more complete report will be published after this initial probe of the tragedy in Texas.

The purpose of the department review is three-fold, Gates said, including targeting possible gaps in procedures for identifying dangerous service members who could pose credible risks to other troops. The review also will assess how "adverse information" about troops is recorded and handled, and will gauge the level of security and emergency response capabilities at Defense Department facilities.

As part of the initial review, each military service branch will appoint a senior official to work with Clark and West on service-specific issues, Gates said.

"In light of the Fort Hood incident and unique challenges, the Army will conduct a more in-depth, detailed assessment of whether Army programs, policies and procedures reasonably could have prevented the shooting," he said. The Army's findings will be submitted as part of the Army's contribution to the departmental review, Gates added.

The department will exercise "full and open disclosure" amid the review process, Gates said, speaking a day after he attended a memorial ceremony in the small Tennessee hometown of Army Specialist Fred Greene, one of 13 killed in the Fort Hood massacre.

"There is nothing any of us can say to ease the pain for the wounded, the families of the fallen, and the members of the Fort Hood community touched by this incident -- pain I saw vividly and firsthand yesterday in Mountain City, Tennessee," Gates said.

"All that is left for us to do is everything in our power to prevent similar tragedies from occurring in the future."