WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Obama on Monday nominated Robert A. Harding, a retired Army major general and intelligence expert, as head of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).

Harding has spent more than 35 years working in the intelligence community, in both the military and the private sectors. He served as CEO of Harding Security Associates, a consulting company he founded in 2003 and sold last summer.

Before entering the private sector, Harding completed 33 years in the Army, where he served in various command and staff assignments. From 1996 to 2000, he was the director for operations at the Defense Intelligence Agency. He retired as the Army’s No. 2 intelligence official in 2001.

“I am confident that Bob’s talent and expertise will make him a tremendous asset in our ongoing efforts to bolster security and screening measures at our airports,” Obama said.

The nomination now awaits confirmation by the Senate.

Besides airport security, TSA has been working on a highly anticipated pupil transportation security assessment. H.R. 1, signed by President Bush in August 2007, required the agency to submit a report on that subject to Congress within a year, but its progress has been delayed.

Last week, the National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services (NASDPTS) reported that TSA had apparently sent the assessment to Congress, where it is to be reviewed before being released to the public.

“The assessment is designed to inform Congress of the vulnerabilities that TSA found in school bus security and, optimistically, could result in security assistance for the school bus industry,” NASDPTS Executive Director Bob Riley said.