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ct 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 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 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 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 24 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 25 26 powers and functions main article organizational structure of the united states department of defense department of defense organizational chart december 2013 the secretary of defense appointed by 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 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 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 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 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 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 27 28 office of the secretary of defense main article office of the secretary of defense 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 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 secretary of defense is issuing through the office of the secretary of defense the national defense strategy a major policy document the name of the principally military staff organization organized under the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff is the joint staff js awards and decorations the defense distinguished service medal ddsm 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 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 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 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 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 29 congressional committees 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 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 the principal oversight role national security council the secretary of defense is a statutory member of the national security council 30 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 the president role in the military justice system the secretary is one of only five or six civilians 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 others are the president secretary of the army secretary of the navy secretary of the air force and 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 the department of the navy under the department of defense salary the secretary of defense is a level i position in the executive schedule 4 thus earning a salary of us 246 400 as of october 2024 31 list of secretaries of defense 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 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 before the establishment of the department of defense see the lists of secretaries of the navy and secretaries of war before 1947 parties democratic republican independent unknown status denotes an acting secretary of defense no image name start end duration party home state president s 1 james forrestal 32 17 september 1947 28 march 1949 1 year 192 days democratic new york harry s truman 1945 1953 2 louis a johnson 33 28 march 1949 19 september 1950 1 year 175 days democratic west virginia 3 george c marshall 34 21 september 1950 12 september 1951 356 days independent pennsylvania 4 robert a lovett 35 17 september 1951 20 january 1953 1 year 125 days republican cross party new york 5 charles erwin wilson 36 28 january 1953 8 october 1957 4 years 253 days republican michigan dwight d eisenhower 1953 1961 6 neil h mcelroy 37 9 october 1957 1 december 1959 2 years 53 days republican ohio 7 thomas s gates jr 38 2 december 1959 20 january 1961 1 year 49 days republican pennsylvania 8 robert mcnamara 39 21 january 1961 29 february 1968 7 years 39 days republican cross party michigan john f kennedy 1961 1963 lyndon b johnson 1963 1969 9 clark clifford 40 1 march 1968 20 january 1969 325 days democratic maryland lyndon b johnson 1963 1969 10 melvin laird 41 22 january 1969 29 january 1973 4 years 7 days republican wisconsin richard nixon 1969 1974 11 elliot richardson 42 30 january 1973 24 may 1973 114 days republican massachusetts bill clements acting 43 24 may 1973 2 july 1973 39 days republican texas 12 james r schlesinger 44 2 july 1973 19 november 1975 2 years 140 days republican virginia richard nixon 1969 1974 gerald ford 1974 1977 13 donald rumsfeld 45 20 november 1975 20 january 1977 1 year 61 days republican illinois gerald ford 1974 1977 14 harold brown 46 20 january 1977 20 january 1981 4 years 0 days democratic california jimmy carter 1977 1981 15 caspar weinberger 47 21 january 1981 23 november 1987 6 years 306 days republican california ronald reagan 1981 1989 16 frank carlucci 48 23 november 1987 20 january 1989 1 year 58 days republican virginia william howard taft iv acting 49 20 january 1989 21 march 1989 60 days republican ohio george h w bush 1989 1993 17 dick cheney 50 21 march 1989 20 january 1993 3 years 305 days republican wyoming 18 les aspin 51 52 53 20 january 1993 3 february 1994 1 year 14 days democratic wisconsin bill clinton 1993 2001 19 william perry 54 52 55 3 february 1994 24 january 1997 2 years 356 days democratic pennsylvania 20 william cohen 56 24 january 1997 20 january 2001 3 years 362 days republican cross party maine 21 donald rumsfeld 57 20 january 2001 18 december 2006 5 years 332 days 7 years 29 days total republican illinois george w bush 2001 2009 22 robert gates 58 52 18 december 2006 30 june 2011 4 years 194 days republican cross party texas george w bush 2001 2009 barack obama 2009 2017 23 leon panetta 59 1 july 2011 26 february 2013 1 year 240 days democratic california barack obama 2009 2017 24 chuck hagel 60 27 february 2013 17 february 2015 1 year 355 days republican cross party nebraska 25 ash carter 61 52 17 february 2015 20 january 2017 1 year 338 days democratic massachusetts 26 jim mattis 62 20 january 2017 1 january 2019 1 year 345 days independent washington donald trump 2017 2021 patrick m shanahan acting 63 1 january 2019 23 june 2019 173 days independent washington mark esper acting 64 24 june 2019 15 july 2019 21 days republican virginia richard v spencer acting 65 15 july 2019 23 july 2019 8 days republican wyoming 27 mark esper 64 23 july 2019 9 november 2020 1 year 109 days republican virginia christopher c miller acting 64 9 november 2020 20 january 2021 72 days republican iowa david norquist acting 66 20 january 2021 22 january 2021 2 days republican massachusetts joe biden 2021 2025 28 lloyd austin 67 22 january 2021 20 january 2025 3 years 364 days independent georgia robert g salesses acting 20 january 2025 25 january 2025 5 days independent rhode island donald trump 2025 present 29 pete hegseth 25 january 2025 incumbent 1 year 228 days republican minnesota succession presidential succession the secretary of defense is sixth in the presidential line of succession after the secretary of the treasury and before the attorney general 68 secretary succession on 10 december 2020 president donald trump modified the order of succession for the office of secretary of defense in executive order 13963 the order of succession is 69 office 1 deputy secretary of defense 2 secretary of the army secretary of the navy secretary of the air force 3 under secretary of defense for policy 4 under secretary of defense for intelligence and security chief management officer of the department of defense 5 under secretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment 6 under secretary of defense for research and engineering 7 under secretary of defense comptroller 8 under secretary of defense for personnel and readiness 9 deputy under secretary of defense for policy 10 deputy under secretary of defense for intelligence and security 11 deputy under secretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment 12 deputy under secretary of defense for research and engineering 13 deputy under secretary of defense comptroller 14 deputy under secretary of defense for personnel and readiness 15 general counsel of the department of defense assistant secretaries of defense director of cost assessment and program evaluation director of operational test and evaluation chief information officer of the department of defense 16 under secretary of the army under secretary of the navy under secretary of the air force 17 assistant secretaries of the army assistant secretaries of the navy assistant secretaries of the air force general counsel of the army general counsel of the navy...
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