Donald Henry Rumsfeld was an American politician,government official and businessman who served as secretary of defense from 1975 to 1977 under President Gerald Ford,and again from 2001 to 2006 under President George W. Bush. He was both the youngest and the oldest secretary of defense. Additionally,Rumsfeld was a four-term U.S. Congressman from Illinois (1963–1969),director of the Office of Economic Opportunity (1969–1970),counselor to the president (1969–1973),the U.S. Representative to NATO (1973–1974),and the White House Chief of Staff (1974–1975). Between his terms as secretary of defense,he served as the CEO and chairman of several companies.
The United States secretary of defense 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 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.
The Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) is an intelligence agency and combat support agency of the United States Department of Defense (DoD),specializing in defense and military intelligence.
The Office of Special Plans (OSP),which existed from September 2002 to June 2003,was a Pentagon unit created by Paul Wolfowitz and Douglas Feith,and headed by Feith,as charged by then–United States Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld,to supply senior George W. Bush administration officials with raw intelligence pertaining to Iraq. A similar unit,called the Iranian Directorate,was created several years later,in 2006,to deal with intelligence on Iran.
Gordon Richard England is an American politician and businessman who was the U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense and twice served as the U.S. Secretary of the Navy in the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush.
Robert Michael Gates is an American intelligence analyst and university president who served as the 22nd United States secretary of defense from 2006 to 2011. He was appointed by President George W. Bush and was retained by President Barack Obama. Gates began his career serving as an officer in the United States Air Force but was quickly recruited by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Gates served for twenty-six years in the CIA and at the National Security Council,and was director of central intelligence under President George H. W. Bush from 1991 to 1993. After leaving the CIA,Gates became president of Texas A&M University and was a member of several corporate boards. Gates served as a member of the Iraq Study Group,the bipartisan commission co-chaired by James A. Baker III and Lee H. Hamilton that studied the lessons of the Iraq War.
Lawrence Thomas Di Rita is an American political advisor who served as an aide to United States Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. He has also worked as a spokesman for Bank of America.
The Air Staff is one of the Department of the Air Force's two statutorily designated headquarters staffs:the other staff is the Office of the Secretary of the Air Force,also known as the Secretariat. The Air Staff is established by the United States Code Title 10 chapter 905. The Air Staff is headed by the Chief of Staff of the Air Force General David Allvin. The Air Staff is primarily composed of uniformed United States Air Force officials who assist the Chief of Staff in carrying out his dual-hatted role:as the principal military advisor to the Secretary of the Air Force,and as a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Edward "Pete" Cleveland Aldridge Jr. is an aerospace engineer and former government official in the U.S. Defense Department. He was also selected as a payload specialist for the Space Shuttle mission STS-62-A,scheduled to launch in July 1986. The mission was canceled after the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster in January 1986,and Aldridge never flew.
The Aerospace Corporation is an American nonprofit corporation that operates a federally funded research and development center (FFRDC). The corporation provides technical guidance and advice on all aspects of space missions to military,civil,and commercial customers. As the FFRDC for national-security space,Aerospace works closely with organizations such as the United States Space Force (USSF) and the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) to provide "objective technical analyses and assessments for space programs that serve the national interest". Although the USSF and NRO are primary customers,Aerospace performs work for civil agencies such as NASA and NOAA as well as international organizations and governments in the national interest. Aerospace,as part of its charter,also provides expertise to commercial entities,both established companies and startups,domestically and abroad.
Counterintelligence Field Activity (CIFA) was a United States Department of Defense (DoD) agency whose size and budget were classified. The CIFA was created by a directive from the Secretary of Defense,then Donald Rumsfeld,on February 19,2002. On August 8,2008,it was announced that CIFA would be shut down. The Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) absorbed most of the components and authorities of the CIFA into the Defense Counterintelligence and Human Intelligence Center,which was later consolidated into the Defense Clandestine Service.
The under secretary of defense for intelligence and security or USD(I&S) is a high-ranking civilian position in the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) within the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) that acts as the principal civilian advisor and deputy to the secretary of defense (SecDef) and deputy secretary of defense (DepSecDef) on matters relating to military intelligence and security. The under secretary is appointed as a civilian by the president and confirmed by the Senate to serve at the pleasure of the president.
General Ronald Ellis Keys is a retired United States Air Force officer who served as Commander,Air Combat Command,with headquarters in Langley Air Force Base,Virginia,and Air Component Commander for United States Joint Forces Command and United States Northern Command.
The Commission to Assess the Ballistic Missile Threat to the United States,commonly called the Rumsfeld Commission,was an independent commission formed by the US Congress to evaluate the ballistic missile threat posed to the United States.
Thomas Samuel Moorman Jr. was a United States Air Force officer who served as Vice Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force from July 1994 to August 1997.
Leslie F. Kenne is a retired lieutenant general in the United States Air Force,a rank she attained in 1999,and the first woman to attain that rank in the Air Force. She is currently on the board of directors of SRI International,Harris Corporation,Oshkosh Corporation and Unisys Corporation. Kenne also serves on the Air Force Studies Board's Development Planning Roundtable,part of the National Academy of Sciences.
Michael Bruce Donley is a United States government official who is the director of administration and management in the Office of the Secretary of Defense since May 2021,having served in the same position from 2005 to 2008. In the Bush and Obama administrations,Donley served as the 22nd secretary of the Air Force,amongst other positions. Donley has 30 years of experience in the national security community,including service on the staff of the United States Senate,White House and The Pentagon.
The Assistant Secretary of the Air Force (SAF/AQ) is a civilian position in the Department of the Air Force that is appointed by the president of the United States and confirmed by the United States Senate. This position is established under Title 10 US Code Section 9016 and is one of five Assistant Secretary positions under the Secretary of the Air Force. The Assistant Secretary reports to the Secretary of the Air Force.
William B. Roper Jr. is an American physicist and foreign policy strategist who served as the 13th Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition,Technology and Logistics,overseeing procurement for the U.S. Air Force and Space Force from 2018 to 2021. Before taking office he served elsewhere within the Department of Defense as founder and director of the Strategic Capabilities Office,and prior as Ballistic Missile Defense System Architect at the Missile Defense Agency. He was also a member of the 2018 National Defense Strategy steering group. He is currently the CEO at Istari,as well as serving as senior advisor at McKinsey and Co.,and teaching at Georgia Tech.
