Gen. Stanley McChrystal, who was fired last week as the top U.S. general in the stalemated Afghanistan war, has told the Army that he will retire.

McChrystal notified the service of his plans on Monday, but he has not yet submitted formal retirement papers, Army spokesman Col. Tom Collins said. It is not clear when he will leave the service, but the process usually take a few months.

President Barack Obama has praised McChrystal's long Army career but says his intemperate remarks in a magazine article that appeared last week could not be abided.

McChrystal apologized for the remarks in Rolling Stone magazine and flew to Washington last week to resign as commanding general of the war.