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 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 Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) is the body of the most senior uniformed leaders within the United States Department of Defense, which advises the president of the United States, the secretary of defense, the Homeland Security Council and the National Security Council on military matters. The composition of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is defined by statute and consists of a chairman (CJCS), a vice chairman (VJCS), the chiefs of the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and the chief of the National Guard Bureau. Each of the individual service chiefs, outside their JCS obligations, works directly under the secretaries of their respective military departments, e.g. the secretary of the Army, the secretary of the Navy, and the secretary of the Air Force.
The deputy secretary of defense is a statutory office and the second-highest-ranking official in the Department of Defense of the United States of America.
The secretary of the Army is a senior civilian official within the United States Department of Defense, with statutory responsibility for all matters relating to the United States Army: manpower, personnel, reserve affairs, installations, environmental issues, weapons systems and equipment acquisition, communications and financial management.
The Secretary of the Air Force, sometimes referred to as the Secretary of the Department of the Air Force, is the head of the Department of the Air Force and the service secretary for the United States Air Force and United States Space Force. The secretary of the Air Force is a civilian appointed by the president, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. The secretary reports to the secretary of defense and/or the deputy secretary of defense, and is by statute responsible for and has the authority to conduct all the affairs of the Department of the Air Force.
The Prisoner of War Medal is a military award of the United States Armed Forces which was authorized by Congress and signed into law by President Ronald Reagan on 8 November 1985. The United States Code citation for the POW Medal statute is 10 U.S.C. § 1128.
The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (CJCS) is the presiding officer of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS). The chairman is the highest-ranking and most senior military officer in the United States Armed Forces and the principal military advisor to the president, the National Security Council, the Homeland Security Council, and the secretary of defense. While the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff outranks all other commissioned officers, the chairman is prohibited by law from having operational command authority over the armed forces; however, the chairman assists the president and the secretary of defense in exercising their command functions.
The vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (VJCS) is, by U.S. law, the second highest-ranking military officer in the United States Armed Forces, ranking just below the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The vice chairman outranks all respective heads of each service branch, with the exception of the chairman, but does not have operational command authority over their service branches. The vice chairman assists the chairman in exercising their duties. In the absence of the chairman, the vice chairman presides over the meetings of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and performs all other duties prescribed under 10 U.S.C. § 153 and may also perform other duties that the president, the chairman, or the secretary of defense prescribes.
The Goldwater–Nichols Department of Defense Reorganization Act of October 4, 1986 made the most sweeping changes to the United States Department of Defense since the department was established in the National Security Act of 1947 by reworking the command structure of the U.S. military. It increased the powers of the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and implemented some of the suggestions from the Packard Commission, commissioned by President Reagan in 1985. Among other changes, Goldwater–Nichols streamlined the military chain of command, which now runs from the president through the secretary of defense directly to combatant commanders, bypassing the service chiefs. The service chiefs were assigned to an advisory role to the president and the secretary of defense, and given the responsibility for training and equipping personnel for the unified combatant commands.
The United States Department of the Army (DA) is one of the three military departments within the Department of Defense of the U.S. The Department of the Army is the federal government agency within which the United States Army (U.S.) is organized, and it is led by the secretary of the Army, who has statutory authority under 10 United States Code § 7013 to conduct its affairs and to prescribe regulations for its government, subject to the limits of the law, and the directions of the secretary of defense and the president.
The Defense Science Board (DSB) is a committee of civilian experts appointed to advise the U.S. Department of Defense on scientific and technical matters. It was established in 1956 on the second Hoover Commission's recommendation.
The Assistant Secretary of Defense for Networks & Information Integration (ASD(NII)) was an appointed position that provided management and oversight of all DoD information technology, including national security systems. The ASD(NII) also served as the chief information officer (CIO) of the United States Department of Defense (DoD), a position distinct from the ASD and governed by the Clinger-Cohen Act.
The United States Department of Defense is an executive branch department of the federal government of the United States charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the U.S. government directly related to national security and the United States Armed Forces. As of November 2022, the U.S. Department of Defense is the second largest employer in the world after India, with over 1.4 million active-duty service personnel, including soldiers, marines, sailors, airmen, and guardians. The Department of Defense also maintains over 778,000 National Guard and reservists, and over 747,000 civilians, bringing the total to over 2.91 million employees. Headquartered at the Pentagon in Arlington County, Virginia, just outside Washington, D.C., the Department of Defense's stated mission is "to provide the military forces needed to deter war and ensure our nation's security".
The chief of the United States Army Reserve (CAR) is the commanding officer of the United States Army Reserve, the reserve component of the United States Army. As the highest-ranking officer in the United States Army Reserve, the CAR is the principal advisor to the chief of staff of the Army on all matters relating to the Army Reserve, and is responsible for the personnel, operations and construction budgets of the Army Reserve, subject to the supervision and control of the secretary of the Army. Dual-hatted as Commanding General, United States Army Reserve Command, the CAR is also responsible to the Commanding General, United States Army Forces Command for the oversight of operationally-deployed Army Reserve forces.
The Assistant Secretary of the Army (Manpower and Reserve Affairs), abbreviated as ASA(M&RA), is a civilian official in the United States Department of the Army.
The reserve components of the United States Armed Forces are military organizations whose members generally perform a minimum of 39 days of military duty per year and who augment the active duty military when necessary. The reserve components are also referred to collectively as the National Guard and Reserve.
The United States Department of Defense (DoD) has a complex organizational structure. It includes the Army, Navy, the Marine Corps, Air Force, Space Force, the Unified combatant commands, U.S. elements of multinational commands, as well as non-combat agencies such as the Defense Intelligence Agency and the National Security Agency. The DoD's annual budget was roughly US$496.1 billion in 2015. This figure is the base amount and does not include the $64.3 billion spent on "War/Non-War Supplementals". Including those items brings the total to $560.6 billion for 2015.
Arnold L. Punaro is a retired United States Marine Corps Major General and CEO of The Punaro Group and IronArch Technology. He is currently Chairman of the Secretary of Defense’s Reserve Forces Policy Board and a member of the Defense Business Board. He was an executive vice president at Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) in McLean, Virginia from 1997–2010. Punaro held several positions with the United States Senate including Staff Director of the Senate Armed Services Committee. He is recognized by Defense News as one of the 100 Most Influential Individuals in the U.S. Defense.
Deputy Under Secretary of Defense (DUSD) is the title for several high-ranking posts in the U.S. Department of Defense, requiring appointment by the president and are confirmed by the Senate by majority vote. There are currently six DUSDs, one for each Under Secretary of Defense. From 2010 until 2017, these positions were known as Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense (PDUSD). The title for these positions was renamed to remove the word "Principal" as part of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018.
The vice chief of the National Guard Bureau (VCNGB) is the second highest-ranking officer of the National Guard Bureau, which is a joint activity of the United States Department of Defense. The vice chief is also the second in charge of the National Guard; which is a joint reserve component of the United States Army and the United States Air Force. The vice chief serves as the principal advisor to the chief of the National Guard Bureau and the secretary of defense, through the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, on matters involving non-federalized National Guard forces and on other matters as determined by the United States Secretary of Defense. The vice chief also serves as the principal adviser to the secretary of the Army, the secretary of the Air Force, the chief of staff of the Army, and the chief of staff of the Air Force, on matters relating to federalized forces of the United States National Guard and its sub-components; the Army National Guard, and the Air National Guard.
