A senior Pentagon official has resigned amid accusations of incompetence and abuse of power, the Pentagon announced Thursday.

Clifford Stanley, undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness, has submitted his resignation to Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, Doug Wilson, assistant secretary of defense for public affairs, said in a statement.

"He (Stanley) felt he had done his utmost to carry out the mandate he was given, and that he had arrived at the point where the next steps could be carried out most effectively by a successor," the statement said. "His decision to resign was his own."

Stanley has been under investigation after the Pentagon inspector general received anonymous letters accusing him of a variety of wrong-doings.

The letters alleged that Stanley was "incompetent," and "created a dysfunctional command marked by fear and mistrust through a capricious, tyrannical and arbitrary leadership," according to the Project On Government Oversight (POGO) which released the letters in August.

"Waste, fraud and abuse of power are rampant. Even if he were competent, his destructive leadership would assure 'P&R' mission failure," the complaints said.