United States Department of Defense

During 1945, specific plans for the proposed DoD were put forth by the Army, the Navy, and the Joint Chiefs of Staff. In a special message to Congress on 19 December 1945, President Harry Truman proposed creation of a unified Department of National Defense. A proposal went to Congress in April 1946, but was held up by the Naval Affairs Committee hearings in July 1946, which raised objections to the concentration of power in a single department. Truman eventually sent new legislation to Congress in February 1947, where it was debated and amended for several months.

DoD was created in 1947 as a national military establishment with a single secretary as its head to preside over the former Department of War (founded in 1789) and Department of the Navy (founded in 1798; formerly the Board of Admiralty, founded in 1780). The Department of the Air Force was also created as a new service at the same time (it had been part of the War Department as the United States Army Air Force), and made part of DoD. DoD was created in order to reduce interservice rivalry which was believed to have reduced military effectiveness during World War II.

On 26 July 1947, Truman signed the National Security Act of 1947, which set up the National Military Establishment to begin operations on 18 September 1947, the day after the Senate confirmed James V. Forrestal as the first Secretary of Defense. The Establishment had the unfortunate abbreviation "NME" (the obvious pronunciation being "enemy"), and was renamed the "Department of Defense" (abbreviated as DOD or DoD) on 10 August 1949; in addition, the Secretary of Defense was given greater authority over three of the branches of the military (Army, Navy, and Air Force). Prior to the creation of the National Military Establishment / Department of Defense, the Armed Forces of the United States were separated into different cabinet-level departments without much central authority. The Marine Corps remained as a separate service under the Department of the Navy, and the Coast Guard remained in the Department of the Treasury, ready to be shifted to the Navy Department during time of declared war (as it was in both world wars).

The Department includes the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, as well as non-combat agencies such as the National Security Agency and the Defense Intelligence Agency. The DoD's annual budget was roughly $786 billion in 2007.^[2] This figure does not include tens of billions more in supplemental expenditures allotted by Congress throughout the year, particularly for the war in Iraq. It also does not include expenditures by the Department of Energy on nuclear weapons design and testing.

Civilian control over matters other than operations is exercised through the three service departments, the Department of the Army, the Department of the Navy (which includes the Marine Corps), and the Department of the Air Force. Each is led by a service secretary, who are below Cabinet rank.

In wartime, the Department of Defense has authority over the Coast Guard; in peacetime, that agency is under the control of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Prior to the creation of DHS, the Coast Guard was under the control of the Department of Transportation and earlier under the Department of the Treasury. According to the U.S. Code, the Coast Guard is at all times considered one of the five armed services of the United States. During times of declared war (or by Congressional direction), the Coast Guard operates as a part of the Navy; the service has not been under the auspices of Navy since World War II, but members have served in the undeclared wars and conflicts since then while the service remained in its peacetime department.

The Pentagon, in Arlington County, Virginia, across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C., is the headquarters of the Department of Defense. The Department of Defense is protected by the Pentagon Force Protection Agency which ensures law enforcement and security for The Pentagon and various other jurisdictions throughout the National Capital Region (NCR).

Though the President of the United States is the Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. military, he is a civilian and not a member of the military.

The command structure of the Department of Defense is defined by the Goldwater-Nichols Act of 1986 (PL 99-433), signed into law by President Ronald Reagan on 1 October 1986. The Act reworked the command structure of the United States military, introducing the most sweeping changes to the Department since it was established in the National Security Act of 1947. Under the act, the chain of command runs from the President of the United States, through the Secretary of Defense, to the combatant commanders (COCOM) who command all military forces within their area of responsibility. The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the service Chiefs of Staff are responsible for readiness of the U.S. military and serve as the President's military advisers, but are not in the chain of command. The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is by law the highest ranking military officer in the United States. Each service is responsible for organizing, training and equipping military units for the commanders of the various Unified Combatant Commands.

United States Secretary of Defense

• United States Deputy Secretary of Defense
  • Office of the Secretary of Defense
    • Joint IED Defeat Organization[3], LTG Tom Metz, [4]
    • Defense Policy Board Advisory Committee
    • Office of Net Assessment
    • Pentagon Force Protection Agency
    • Office of General Counsel
      • Defense Legal Services Agency
    • Office of Inspector General
      • Defense Criminal Investigative Service
  • Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence
    • Defense Intelligence Agency
    • Defense Security Service
    • Counterintelligence Field Activity
    • National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency
    • National Reconnaissance Office
    • National Security Agency
  • Under Secretary of Defense for Policy
    • Defense Security Cooperation Agency
    • Defense Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel Office
  • Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics
    • Defense Technical Information Center
    • Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
    • Missile Defense Agency
    • Defense Contract Management Agency
    • Defense Logistics Agency
    • Defense Threat Reduction Agency
    • Office of Economic Adjustment
    • Defense Acquisition University
    • Business Transformation Agency
    • Operational Test and Evaluation Directorate (DOT&E)
  • Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness
    • Defense Commissary Agency
    • Defense Human Resources Activity
    • Department of Defense Education Activity
    • Department of Defense Dependents Schools
    • Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences
    • Defense Equal Opportunity Management Institute
    • Office of the Chancellor for Education and Professional Development
  • Under Secretary of Defense Comptroller
    • Defense Contract Audit Agency
    • Defense Finance and Accounting Service
  • Director, Program Analysis and Evaluation
  • Assistant Secretary of Defense for Networks and Information Integration
    • Defense Information Systems Agency
  • Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs
    • Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, Internal Communications
  • Washington Headquarters Services
  • Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs
    • Military Health System[5]
      • TRICARE Management Activity[6]

• Military Departments
  • United States Secretary of the Army
    • Department of the Army including the U.S. Army
    • United States Army Corps of Engineers
  • United States Secretary of the Navy
    • United States Department of the Navy including the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps
  • United States Secretary of the Air Force
    • Department of the Air Force including the U.S. Air Force
• Joint Chiefs of Staff

The United States Naval Observatory falls under the Chief of Naval Operations. In 2003, the National Communications System was moved to the Department of Homeland Security, but only for executive purposes. The National Communications System still centralizes its activities within the Department of Defense, since the human resources required by NCS (example: Military Departments) still reside within the Department of Defense, or for retention of practical maintenance.

There are ten Unified Combatant Commands; six regional and four functional. United States Africa Command became initially operational in October 2007.

In 2007, a new geographical command for Africa was authorized. This proposed significant changes to the areas of responsibility for other adjacent geographical commands as shown in the accompanying graphic.

The military expenditure of the United States Department of Defense for fiscal year 2007 is:

The United States and its closest allies are responsible for approximately two-thirds of global military spending (of which, in turn, the U.S. is responsible for the vast majority). Military spending accounts for 19% of the United States' federal budget, and approximately half of its federal discretionary spending, which comprises all of the U.S. government's money not accounted for by pre-existing obligations.[7]^[3]

However, in terms of per capita spending, the U.S. ranks third behind Israel and Singapore^[4].

According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, in 2003 the United States spent approximately 47% of the world's total military spending of US $956,000,000,000.

As a percentage of its GDP, the United States spends 4.06% on military, ranking it 28th in the world. This is higher by percent than France's 2.6%, and lower than Saudi Arabia's 10%^[5]. This 3.7% is low relative to the United States' past 60-some years.^[6]

Also, since it is an all-volunteer force and since most jobs within it require high degrees of technical skill and personnel retention, the United States armed forces have dramatically higher personnel costs, both military and civilian, compared to the militaries of countries which use conscription, many of which have far more troops than the United States. However, only China has more standing troops than the United States.

DoD's Energy Conservation Investment Program (ECIP) improves the energy and water efficiency of existing Military Services' facilities. The program's projects help the Military Services save on energy usage and cost. ^[7]. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 provided $120 million for the ECIP.

Also the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 has given money for the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, Army Reserve, Navy Reserve, Marine Corps Reserve, Air Force Reserve, Army National Guard and Air National Guard facilities to invest in energy efficiency.

The Department of Defense uses 4.6 billion gallons of fuel annually, or an average of 12.6 million gallons of fuel per day. A large Army division may use about 6,000 gallons per day. According to the 2005 CIA World Factbook, the DoD would rank 34th in the world in average daily oil use, coming in just behind Iraq and just ahead of Sweden.^[8]

In FY 2006, the DoD used almost 30,000 gigawatts per hour (GWH) of electricity, at a cost of almost $2.2 billion. The DoD's electricity use would supply enough electricity to power more than 2.6 million average American homes. In electricity consumption, the DOD would rank 58th in the world, using slightly less than Denmark and slightly more than Syria (CIA World Factbook, 2006).^[9]

The DoD uses 93 percent of all US government fuel consumption (Air Force: 52%; Navy: 33%; Army: 7%. Other DoD: 1%).^[10]

The Air Force is the largest user of fuel energy in the federal government. The Air Force uses 10% of the nation's aviation fuel (JP-8 fuel accounts for nearly 90% of Air Force fuels.^[11] To meet renewable energy goals, it plans to certify its entire fleet on coal-to-liquid synthetic fuel blends by 2011. By 2016, it plans to fuel half of its domestic transportation by US-produced synthetic blends.

The US Army has recently prioritized renewable energy strategies in Iraq.^[12] Strategies include the Tactical Garbage to Energy Refinery Program, which converts 1 ton of waste to 11 gallons of JP-8 fuel, a photovoltaic flexible, portable mat, insulating foam technology, hybrid-electric Manned Ground Vehicles (MGV), and highly efficient portable cells.^[13] The American Recovery Act of 2008 gave more than $150 million to develop these technologies.^[14]

• Insulation foam saves $2 million a day
  Insulation foam saves $2 million a day
• Prototype for an Army Hybrid-Electric Manned Ground Vehicle
  Prototype for an Army Hybrid-Electric Manned Ground Vehicle

Hybrid-Electric Manned Ground Vehicles $27 million in development

Highly Efficient Portable Fuel Cells $2 million in development

On 26 February 2002, the Department of Defense Office of the Inspector General has reported that DOD has not and will not account for $1.1 trillion of "unsupported accounting entries".^[15] In addition, there have been several high-profile Government Accountability Office (GAO) investigations of the Department of Defense.

The GAO is also interested in ways DOD can partner with other government agencies to save money and create efficiencies. One way was through use of the Veterans Administration's Consolidated Mail Outpatient Pharmacy (CMOP) program. The CMOP fills continuation of therapy or refill prescriptions only. Initial prescriptions are written for veterans at one of the Veteran Administration’s health care facilities. When a refill is needed, the heath care facilities process the prescriptions. The CMOP then uploads this information from multiple facilities in its region. Once filled, the United States Postal Service (USPS) delivers the prescriptions. The health care facility or clinic is notified of the prescription’s completion electronically. As of 2000, the annual workload was near 50 million prescriptions. Processing and filling prescriptions took two days; three more days were required for mail delivery.

The DOD and VA conducted a pilot program in FY 2003. In its 2005 report, GAO-05-555, the GAO found that the DOD could generate savings because CMOP's size allows it to negotiate volume discounts. The CMOP program is now serving the entire country from a number of locations including West Los Angeles, California; Bedford, Massachusetts; Dallas, Texas; Hines, Illinois, Charleston, South Carolina; Leavenworth, Kansas; and Murfreesboro, Tennessee.

The military's analysis of the missile strike on a dead U.S. spy satellite has revealed no sign of danger from debris, including no hazard from the satellite's fuel tank, a Pentagon spokesman said 22 February 2008.^[16]The launched missile successfully destroyed the fuel tank of an inoperable spy satellite, U.S. military officials said 25 February 2008.^[17]

In fall 2006 the U.S. Defense Department accidentally shipped ballistic missile components instead of helicopter batteries to Taiwan, it was reported on 25 March 2008. The parts were 1960s technology, designed for use with Minuteman ballistic missiles. The missile components were first shipped from F.E. Warren Air Force Base in Wyoming to Hill Air Force Base in Utah in 2005.^[18]

On 20 April 2008, The New York Times published an exposé accusing the U.S. Department of Defense of running a propaganda "message machine" to spread the administration's talking points on Iraq by briefing retired military commanders for network television and cable television appearances, where they were presented as independent analysts.^[19][20]

To meet the growing demands in the Middle East and around the world, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates proposed to President Bush to increase the overall size of the military by approximately 92,000 troops over the course of five years. Specifically, the proposal calls for an Army troop cap of 545,000 to 550,000 active duty soldiers and a troop cap of 202,000 active duty Marines. The total active duty force of the United States after the buildup will be about 1,479,000.^[21] There have also been calls to increase the sizes of the other branches of the military to match the increase in the Marines and Army.

• 1947: National Security Act of 1947
• 1958: Department of Defense Reorganization Act PL 85-899
• 1963: Department of Defense Appropriations Act PL 88-149
• 1963: Military Construction Authorization Act PL 88-174
• 1967: Supplemental Defense Appropriations Act PL 90-8
• 1984: Department of Defense Authorization Act PL 98-525
• 1986: Goldwater-Nichols Act of 1986 or Department of Defense Reorganization Act PL 99-433
• 1996: Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act PL 104-132

• List of United States military bases
• DOD Information Assurance Certification and Accreditation Program
• Military badges of the United States Department of Defense
• The Berry Amendment, a U.S.C law that requires most goods used by the armed forces to be produced domestically.
• US Senate Report on chemical weapons
• Defense industry
• Defense contractor
• Distance in military affairs
• Exceptional Family Member Program
• Pace-Finletter MOU 1952

• DOD website
• Read Congressional Research Service (CRS) Reports regarding the Department of Defense
• "Being Audited by DCAA - Download FAR Cost Principles Guide" (PDF). {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
• Entire Collection of DoD Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Reading Room
• Budget info
• Death and Taxes: 2009 A visual guide and infographic of the 2009 United States federal budget including the Department of Defense with data provided by the Comptrollers office.

• DoD YouTube channel

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