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49-625: Formerly Used Defense Sites ( FUDS or FDS ) are properties that were owned by, leased to, or otherwise possessed by the United States and under the jurisdiction of the United States Secretary of Defense . The term also refers to the U.S. military program created in 1986 for assessment and environmental restoration , if any, led by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers . Of the potential 10,000 FUDS that have been used for military training, production, installation and testing of weapon systems

98-489: Is a Level I position in the Executive Schedule , thus earning a salary of US$ 246,400, as of October 2024. The longest-serving secretary of defense is Robert McNamara , who served for a total of 7   years, 39 days. Combining his two non-sequential services as the secretary of defense, the second-longest serving is Donald Rumsfeld , who served just ten days fewer than McNamara. The second-longest unbroken tenure

147-552: Is a civilian official appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate . The highest-ranking military officer in the department is the chief of staff of the Army , who is also a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff . Other senior officials of the department are the under secretary of the Army (principal deputy to the secretary) and the vice chief of staff of the Army (principal deputy to

196-573: Is a single office for operations, plans, and training. A key official within the Army Staff is the director of the Army Staff, who is a three-star general. The director is responsible for integrating and synchronizing the work of the Office of the Secretary and the Army Staff so that they meet the goals and priorities of the secretary of the Army. Other key figures within the Army Staff are the sergeant major of

245-500: Is not listed on NPL, the state or tribe is the lead regulator while DoD is the lead agency. United States Secretary of Defense The United States secretary of defense ( SecDef ) is the head of the United States Department of Defense (DoD), the executive department of the U.S. Armed Forces , and is a high-ranking member of the federal cabinet . The secretary of defense's position of command and authority over

294-499: The Office of the Secretary of the Army (10 United States Code § 7014 ), the mainly civilian staff; and the Army Staff (10 United States Code § 7031, & 10 United States Code § 7032 ), the mainly military staff. The Office of the Secretary and the Army Staff are organized along similar lines, with civilians and military officers both overseeing similar program areas. The Office of

343-541: The American Revolution . The War Department , headed by the secretary of war , was created by Act of Congress in 1789 and was responsible for both the Army and Navy until the founding of a separate Department of the Navy in 1798. Based on the experiences of World War II , proposals were soon made on how to more effectively manage the large combined military establishment. The Army generally favored centralization while

392-836: The Defense Superior Service Medal (DSSM), the Defense Meritorious Service Medal (DMSM), the Joint Service Commendation Medal (JSCM) and the Joint Service Achievement Medal (JSAM) are awarded, to military personnel for service in joint duty assignments, in the name of the secretary of defense. In addition, there is the Joint Meritorious Unit Award (JMUA), which is the only ribbon (as in non-medal) and unit award issued to joint DoD activities, also issued in

441-534: The Department of the Navy under the Department of Defense) – authorized to act as convening authority in the military justice system for General Courts-Martial ( 10 U.S.C.   § 822 : article 22, UCMJ ), Special Courts-Martial ( 10 U.S.C.   § 823 : article 23, UCMJ), and Summary Courts-Martial ( 10 U.S.C.   § 824 : article 24 UCMJ). The Secretary of Defense

490-567: The president with the advice and consent of the Senate , is by federal law ( 10 U.S.C.   § 113 ) the head of the Department of Defense, "the principal assistant to the President in all matters relating to Department of Defense", and has "authority, direction and control over the Department of Defense". Because the Constitution vests all military authority in Congress and the president,

539-405: The secretary general of NATO and offered to the U.S. permanent representative to NATO in recognition of U.S. servicemembers who meet the eligibility criteria specified by NATO. As the head of the department, the secretary of defense is the chief witness for the congressional committees with oversight responsibilities over the Department of Defense. The most important committees, with respect to

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588-490: The secretary of the treasury , the secretary of defense, and the attorney general are generally regarded as the four most important (and are officially the four most senior and oldest) cabinet officials because of the size and importance of their respective departments. The current secretary of defense is retired general Lloyd Austin , who is the first African American to serve in the position. An Army, Navy, and Marine Corps were established in 1775, in concurrence with

637-482: The under secretary of defense for personnel and readiness , and such recommendations be must approved by the secretary of defense before it can be handed over to the president, who is the final approval authority for the MOH, although it is awarded in the name of Congress . The secretary of defense, with the concurrence of the secretary of state , is the approval authority for the acceptance and wear of NATO medals issued by

686-495: The vice chief of staff of the United States Army , a four-star general and second highest-ranking officer in the Army. The Army Staff is divided into several directorates, each headed by a three-star general ; a deputy chief of staff (DCS G–1 (personnel), G–2 (intelligence), G–3 (operations), G–4 (logistics), G-5 (planning), G-6 (network), G-7 (training), G-8 (finance), and G-9 (installations) respectively). The DCS G-3/5/7

735-599: The Army (DA), Department of the Navy (DON) & Department of the Air Force (DAF)), the Defense Agencies and DoD Field Activities , the National Guard Bureau (NGB), and such other offices, agencies, activities, organizations, and commands established or designated by law, or by the president or by the secretary of defense. Department of Defense Directive 5100.01 describes the organizational relationships within

784-736: The Army , the Army Staff Senior Warrant Officer , the Chief Warrant Officer of the Army , the United States Army judge advocate general , the chief of the Army Reserve , the United States Army provost marshal general , and the United States Army surgeon general . The chief of the National Guard Bureau was previously considered part of the Army Staff, but has been elevated to four-star rank and membership in

833-491: The Army is a Military Department within the United States Department of Defense . The department is headed by the secretary of the army, who by statute must be a civilian, appointed by the president with the confirmation by the United States Senate . The secretary of the Army is responsible for and has the authority to conduct all the affairs of the Department of the Army, subject to the authority, direction and control of

882-599: The Army to become its own branch of service, the United States Air Force . A new title was coined by the Act for the head of the NME: Secretary of Defense. At first, each of the service secretaries maintained cabinet status. The first secretary of defense, James Forrestal , who in his previous capacity as the secretary of the Navy had opposed the creation of the new position, found it difficult to exercise authority over

931-407: The Department of Defense, making it one Executive Department . The position of the deputy secretary of defense , the number two position in the department, was also created at this time. The general trend since 1949 has been to further centralize management in the Department of Defense, elevating the status and authorities of civilian OSD appointees and defense-wide organizations at the expense of

980-621: The JSAM to the achievement medals issued by the services. While the approval authority for DSSM, DMSM, JSCM, JSAM and JMUA is delegated to inferior DoD officials: the DDSM can be awarded only by the secretary of defense. Recommendations for the Medal of Honor (MOH), formally endorsed in writing by the secretary of the military department concerned and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff , are processed through

1029-473: The Navy had institutional preferences for decentralization and the status quo. The resulting National Security Act of 1947 was largely a compromise between these divergent viewpoints. It renamed the Department of War the Department of the Army , and added both it and the Department of the Navy to a newly established National Military Establishment (NME). The Act also separated the Army Air Forces from

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1078-483: The Secretary is led by the secretary of the Army, assisted by the under secretary of the Army and the administrative assistant to the secretary of the Army , who is the senior civilian career official of the department. The Office of the Secretary of the Army, also known as the Army Secretariat , is divided into multiple branches with functional responsibilities, the six most important of which are headed by one of

1127-592: The U.S. military has reviewed over 9,800 sites in the US and its territories for contamination by the Department of Defense , around 2700 of these properties were determined to be in need of environmental cleanup with restoration projects planned or ongoing, at an estimated cost of $ 14–18 billion. The Defense Environmental Restoration Program statute (10 USC 2701) and the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liabilities Act CERCLA direct

1176-525: The assessment, eligibility for clean up and clean up, as does the National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan . One funding eligibility criterion is that the contamination must have occurred prior to 17 October 1986. EPA determines if a site qualifies as Superfund site to be listed on the National Priority List (NPL)L per National Contingency Plan (NCP), 40 CFR Part 300. If it

1225-549: The chief of staff.) The Department of War was originally formed in 1789 as an Executive Department of the United States and was split by the National Security Act of 1947 into the Department of the Army and Department of the Air Force on September 18, 1947. By amendments to the National Security Act of 1947 in 1949, the department of the Army was transformed to its present-day status. The Department of

1274-683: The combatant commanders of the Combatant Commands . All these high-ranking positions, civil and military, require Senate confirmation. The Department of Defense is composed of the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD), the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) and the Joint Staff (JS), Office of the Inspector General (DODIG), the Combatant Commands , the Military Departments ( Department of

1323-501: The department and is the foundational issuance for delineating the major functions of the department. The latest version, signed by former secretary of defense Robert Gates in December 2010, is the first major re-write since 1987. The secretary's principally civilian staff element is called the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) and is composed of the deputy secretary of defense (DEPSECDEF) and six under secretaries of defense in

1372-892: The entire department, are the two authorizing committees, the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) and the House Armed Services Committee (HASC), and the two appropriations committees, the Senate Appropriations Committee and the House Appropriations Committee . For the DoD intelligence programs the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence have

1421-445: The establishment of the Department of Defense, see the lists of secretaries of the Navy and secretaries of war prior to 1947.     Democratic     Republican     Independent / Unknown The secretary of defense is sixth in the presidential line of succession , following the secretary of the treasury and preceding the attorney general . On December 10, 2020, President Donald Trump modified

1470-458: The fields of acquisition & sustainment , research & engineering , comptroller/chief financial officer , intelligence , personnel & readiness , and policy ; several assistant secretaries of defense ; other directors and the staffs under them. The name of the principally military staff organization, organized under the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is the Joint Staff (JS). The Defense Distinguished Service Medal (DDSM),

1519-451: The five assistant secretaries of the Army or the general counsel of the Army, each of whom are civilians appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate. The Army Staff is led by the chief of staff of the Army , a four-star general who is the highest-ranking officer in the Army and the Army member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff . The chief of staff is assisted in managing the Army Staff by

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1568-446: The military , U.S. law provides that the secretary of defense cannot have served as an active-duty commissioned officer in the military in the preceding seven years except for generals and admirals , who cannot have served on active duty within the previous ten years. Congress can legislatively waive this restriction and has done so three times, for George C. Marshall , James N. Mattis , and Lloyd J. Austin, III . Subject only to

1617-486: The military departments and the services within them. The last major revision of the statutory framework concerning the position was done in the Goldwater–Nichols Department of Defense Reorganization Act of 1986 . In particular, it elevated the status of joint service for commissioned officers, making it in practice a requirement before appointments to general officer and flag officer grades could be made. As

1666-401: The military hierarchy, its incumbent has sometimes unofficially been referred to as "deputy commander-in-chief". The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is the principal military adviser to the secretary of defense and the president; while the chairman may assist the secretary and president in their command functions, the chairman is not in the chain of command. The secretary of state ,

1715-555: The military is second only to that of the president of the United States , who is the commander-in-chief . This position corresponds to what is generally known as a defense minister in many other countries. The president appoints the secretary of defense with the advice and consent of the Senate , and is by custom a member of the Cabinet and by law a member of the National Security Council . To ensure civilian control of

1764-655: The name of the secretary of defense. The DDSM is analogous to the distinguished services medals issued by the military departments (i.e. Army Distinguished Service Medal , Navy Distinguished Service Medal & Air Force Distinguished Service Medal ), the DSSM corresponds to the Legion of Merit , the DMSM to the Meritorious Service Medal , the JSCM to the service commendation medals, and

1813-512: The office of Secretary of Defense, no additional appointments of military men to that office shall be approved. Defenselink bio Archived November 18, 2008, at the Wayback Machine , Retrieved February 8, 2010; and Marshall Foundation bio Archived September 27, 2011, at the Wayback Machine , Retrieved February 8, 2010. United States Department of the Army The secretary of the army

1862-465: The operational command of the commanders of the Combatant Commands . Only the secretary of defense (and the president) has the authority to approve transfer of forces to and from Combatant Commands by 10 United States Code § 162. Headquarters, Department of the Army is the corporate office of the department which exercises directive and supervisory functions and consists of two separate staffs:

1911-554: The order of succession for the office of Secretary of Defense in Executive Order 13963. The order of succession is: It is hereby expressed as the intent of the Congress that the authority granted by this Act is not to be construed as approval by the Congress of continuing appointments of military men to the office of Secretary of Defense in the future. It is hereby expressed as the sense of the Congress that after General Marshall leaves

1960-530: The orders of the president, the the secretary of defense is in the chain of command and exercises command and control , for both operational and administrative purposes, over all DoD-administered service branches  – the Army , Marine Corps , Navy , Air Force , and Space Force  – as well as the Coast Guard when its command and control is transferred to the Department of Defense. Only

2009-558: The other branches with the limited powers his office had at the time. To address this and other problems, the National Security Act was amended in 1949 to further consolidate the national defense structure in order to reduce interservice rivalry , directly subordinate the secretaries of the Army , the Navy and the Air Force to the secretary of defense in the chain of command, and rename the National Military Establishment as

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2058-477: The president. The secretary is one of only five or six civilians – the others being the president, the three "service secretaries" (the secretary of the Army , secretary of the Navy , and secretary of the Air Force ), and the secretary of homeland security (when the United States Coast Guard is under the United States Department of Homeland Security and has not been transferred to

2107-429: The principal oversight role. The secretary of defense is a statutory member of the National Security Council . As one of the principals, the secretary along with the vice president , secretary of state and the assistant to the president for national security affairs participates in biweekly Principals Committee (PC) meetings, preparing and coordinating issues before they are brought before full NSC sessions chaired by

2156-409: The secretary of defense (or the president or Congress) can authorize the transfer of operational control of forces between the three military departments ( Department of the Army , the Navy , and the Air Force ) and the eleven Unified Combatant Commands . Because the secretary of defense is vested with legal powers that exceed those of any commissioned officer , and is second only to the president in

2205-520: The secretary of defense is a civilian position intended to be independent of the active-duty leadership, a secretary is required to have been retired from service for at least seven (originally ten) years unless a waiver is approved by Congress. Since the creation of the position in 1947, such a waiver has been approved only three times, for Army general George Marshall in 1950, Marine Corps General Jim Mattis in 2017, and retired Army general Lloyd Austin in 2021. The secretary of defense, appointed by

2254-509: The secretary of defense. Some of those high-ranking officials, civil and military (outside of OSD and the Joint Staff) are: the secretary of the Army , secretary of the Navy , and secretary of the Air Force , Army chief of staff , commandant of the Marine Corps , chief of naval operations , Air Force chief of staff , chief of space operations , and chief of the National Guard Bureau and

2303-399: The secretary of defense. The Department of the Army is divided between its headquarters at the seat of government and the field organizations of the Army. By direction of the secretary of defense, the secretary of the Army assigns Army forces, apart from those units performing duties enumerated in 10 United States Code § 7013 (i.e., organize, train & equip) or unless otherwise directed to

2352-411: The statutory authority of the secretary of defense is derived from their constitutional authorities. Since it is impractical for either Congress or the president to participate in every piece of Department of Defense affairs, the secretary of defense and the secretary's subordinate officials generally exercise military authority. As the head of DoD, all officials, employees and service members are "under"

2401-519: Was Caspar Weinberger's, at 6   years, 306 days. The shortest-serving secretary of defense is Elliot Richardson , who served 114 days and then was appointed U.S. attorney general amid the resignations of the Watergate Scandal . (This is not counting deputy secretaries of defense William P. Clements and William Howard Taft IV , who each served a few weeks as temporary/acting secretary of defense). For precursors to this position prior to

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