David Petraeus has been sworn in as the director of the CIA by Vice President Joe Biden, who praised the newly retired U.S. Army General this morning as a man of “duty, honor and country.”

At the swearing in ceremony in the White House’s Roosevelt Room, the vice president commended Petraeus for his leadership following the Sept. 11 attacks.

“You led the 9/11 generation… turned it into the greatest group of warriors this country has ever seen,” Biden said, noting Petraeus is taking over an agency that is designed “to prevent us from having to engage the military in the first place.”

Petraeus, who was joined by his wife Holly Petraeus, thanked the President Obama for having “confidence in an old soldier” and welcomed the opportunity “to continue working very important missions that so many of us have been involved in [for years].”

“Thanks in advance to the tremendous men and women at the Central Intelligence Agency. That is a great organization with great people,” he said.

Petraeus went straight to work after this morning’s ceremony, joining the president’s daily briefing at the White House.