James Logan Jones Jr. is a retired United States Marine Corps four-star general and consultant who served as the 21st United States National Security Advisor from 2009 to 2010. During his military career,he served as the 32nd Commandant of the Marine Corps from July 1999 to January 2003,and Commander,United States European Command and Supreme Allied Commander Europe from 2003 to 2006. Jones retired from the Marine Corps on February 1,2007,after 40 years of service.
The United States secretary of defense (SecDef) is the head of the United States Department of Defense,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 secretary of defense is appointed by the president 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.
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.
Ashton Baldwin Carter was an American government official and academic who served as the 25th United States secretary of defense from February 2015 to January 2017. He later served as director of the Belfer Center for Science &International Affairs at Harvard Kennedy School.
James Norman Mattis is an American military veteran who served as the 26th United States secretary of defense from 2017 to 2019. A former Marine Corps four-star general,he commanded forces in the Persian Gulf War,the War in Afghanistan,and the Iraq War.
The military budget of the United States is the largest portion of the discretionary federal budget allocated to the Department of Defense (DoD),or more broadly,the portion of the budget that goes to any military-related expenditures. The military budget pays the salaries,training,and health care of uniformed and civilian personnel,maintains arms,equipment and facilities,funds operations,and develops and buys new items. The budget funds five branches of the US military:the Army,Navy,Marine Corps,Air Force,and Space Force.
James Edward "Hoss" Cartwright is a retired United States Marine Corps four-star general who last served as the eighth vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from August 31,2007,to August 3,2011. He previously served as the Commander,U.S. Strategic Command,from September 1,2004,to August 10,2007,and as Acting Commander,U.S. Strategic Command from July 9,2004,to September 1,2004. He retired from the Marine Corps on August 3,2011,after nearly 40 years of service.
James F. "Jim" Amos is a retired United States Marine Corps four-star general who served as the 35th commandant of the Marine Corps. As a naval aviator,Amos commanded the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing during the Iraq War in 2003 and 2006. He served as the 31st assistant commandant of the Marine Corps from 2008 to 2010,and was the first Marine Corps aviator to serve as commandant.
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 June 2022,the U.S. Department of Defense is the largest employer in the world,with over 1.34 million active-duty service members,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 2.87 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".
Raymond Francis DuBois Jr. is a private consultant in national security and defense policy and also a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies,a nonpartisan think-tank in Washington,D.C. At CSIS he focuses on international security policy,civil-military relations,defense management reform,and Joint Professional Military Education. His expertise is in Defense Department organization,management and reform;land forces tactical and non-tactical systems;international and domestic installations and environmental issues;base realignment and closure;National Guard and Reserves issues;stability operations and reconstruction;continuity of business operations and crisis management. He was a member of the Defense Health Board and its NCR BRAC Health Systems Advisory Committee in 2006 to 2009. DuBois was a member of the Bipartisan Policy Center’s Commission on Stabilizing Fragile States. He is a member of the International Advisory Council of the United States Institute of Peace,a member of the Princeton University ROTC Board of Directors. He has spoken at the Maxwell School of Syracuse University,at the European Forum Alpbach 2008 in Austria,at the Marine Corps University,Quantico,Virginia,and before audiences of the National Defense Industry Association and the Association of the United States Army.
Joseph Francis Dunford Jr. is a retired United States Marine Corps four-star general who served as the nineteenth chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from October 1,2015 to September 30,2019. He was the thirty-sixth commandant of the Marine Corps. Dunford is the first Marine Corps officer to serve in four different four-star positions;the others include commander of the International Security Assistance Force and United States Forces –Afghanistan from February 2013 to August 2014,and as the thirty-second assistant commandant of the Marine Corps from October 23,2010 to December 15,2012. He has commanded several units,including the 5th Marine Regiment during the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
The Defense Business Board in the United states was established in 2001 as a complement to broader transformation efforts in the Department of Defense to move from an overly burdensome bureaucracy to a more streamlined,effective organization. The Board consists of approximately twenty private sector executives with experience in business management. The purpose of the Board is to provide independent advice,which reflects an outside private sector perspective,on best business practices for application to the Department. The Board’s objective is to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of organizational support to the nation's warfighters.
The Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments (CSBA) is an independent,non-profit,Washington,D.C.-based think tank specializing in US defense policy,force planning,and budgets. It is headed by Thomas Mahnken. CSBA's stated mission is "to develop innovative,resource-informed defense concepts,promote public debate,and spur action to advance U.S. and allied interests."
AirSea Battle is an integrated battle doctrine that forms a key component of the military strategy of the United States. The doctrine became official in February 2010,and was renamed to Joint Concept for Access and Maneuver in the Global Commons (JAM-GC) in 2015.
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.
Paul Joseph Selva is a retired United States Air Force general who served as the tenth vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. In this capacity,he was the nation's second-highest-ranking military officer,and the highest-ranking officer in the Air Force. He assumed his last assignment on July 31,2015,and retired on August 1,2019. Selva is a command pilot with more than 3,100 hours in the C-5,C-17A,C-141B,C-37,KC-10,KC-135A and T-37.
John F. Kirby is a retired United States Navy rear admiral serving as Coordinator for Strategic Communications at the National Security Council in the White House since late May 2022. He previously served as Pentagon Press Secretary for the first year and a half of the Biden administration,and worked as a military and diplomatic analyst for CNN from 2017 to 2021. He served in the Obama administration as the spokesperson for the United States Department of State from 2015 to 2017.
Richard Vaughn Spencer is an American politician and businessman who served as the 76th United States Secretary of the Navy from August 3,2017,to November 24,2019. While serving as Secretary of the Navy,he also briefly served as Acting United States Secretary of Defense and Acting United States Deputy Secretary of Defense. Spencer served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1976 to 1981 as a Marine Aviator and also served as Vice Chairman and Chief Financial Officer of Intercontinental Exchange from November 2001 to January 2008. Spencer served as Secretary of the Navy from August 3,2017,to November 24,2019,when Secretary of Defense Mark Esper requested his resignation over his handling of the Eddie Gallagher case. Spencer was displeased that the White House interfered and pressured him to let Gallagher retire as a Navy SEAL.
Kenneth Franklin McKenzie Jr. is a retired United States Marine Corps general who served as the 14th commander of the United States Central Command from March 28,2019 to April 1,2022. He served as Director of the Joint Staff from July 5,2017 after having previously served for two years as Director of Strategic Plans and Policy (J-5) on the Joint Staff.
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