Portal:Department of Defense

From USApedia

edit 

Department of Defense

The Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD, or DOD) 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; and potentially China, if including the Central Military Commission. 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 Department of Defense is headed by the secretary of defense, a cabinet-level head who reports directly to the president of the United States, the latter of which is also the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces. Beneath the Department of Defense are three subordinate military departments: the Department of the Army, the Department of the Navy, and the Department of the Air Force.

Four national intelligence services are subordinate to the Department of Defense:

Other Defense agencies include:

Additionally, the Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA) is responsible for administering contracts for the Department of Defense. Military operations are managed by eleven regional or functional unified combatant commands. The Department of Defense also operates several joint services schools, including the Eisenhower School (ES) and the National War College (NWC).

edit 

Organization

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 Department of Defense 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.[1][2]

The Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) is the secretary and their deputies, including predominantly civilian staff. OSD is the principal staff element of the Secretary of Defense in the exercise of policy development, planning, resource management, fiscal and program evaluation and oversight, and interface and exchange with other U.S. federal government departments and agencies, foreign governments, and international organizations, through formal and informal processes. OSD also performs oversight and management of the Defense Agencies, Department of Defense Field Activities, and specialized Cross Functional Teams.

Defense agencies

OSD is a parent agency of the following defense agencies:

National intelligence agencies

Several defense agencies are members of the United States Intelligence Community. These are national-level intelligence services that operate under the Department of Defense jurisdiction but simultaneously fall under the authorities of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. They fulfill the requirements of national policymakers and war planners, serve as Combat Support Agencies, and also assist and deploy alongside non-Department of Defense intelligence or law enforcement services such as the Central Intelligence Agency and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The military services each have their intelligence elements that are distinct from but subject to coordination by national intelligence agencies under the Department of Defense. Department of Defense manages the nation's coordinating authorities and assets in disciplines of signals intelligence, geospatial intelligence, and measurement and signature intelligence, and also builds, launches, and operates the Intelligence Community's satellite assets. Department of Defense also has its own human intelligence service, which contributes to the CIA's human intelligence efforts while also focusing on military human intelligence priorities. These agencies are directly overseen by the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security.

Joint Chiefs of Staff

Main article: Joint Chiefs of Staff
The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) is a body of senior uniformed leaders in the Department of Defense who advise the secretary of defense, the Homeland Security Council, the National Security Council and the president on military matters. The composition of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is defined by statute and consists of the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (CJCS), vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (VCJCS), senior enlisted advisor to the chairman (SEAC), the Military Service chiefs from the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, and Space Force, in addition to the chief of National Guard Bureau, all appointed by the president following U.S. Senate confirmation.[3] Each of the individual Military Service Chiefs, outside their Joint Chiefs of Staff obligations, works directly for the secretary of the military department concerned: the Secretary of the Army, Secretary of the Navy, and Secretary of the Air Force.[4][5][6][7]

Following the Goldwater–Nichols Act in 1986, the Joint Chiefs of Staff no longer maintained operational command authority individually or collectively. The act designated the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (CJCS) as the "principal military adviser to the President, the National Security Council, the Homeland Security Council, and the Secretary of Defense".[8] The remaining Joint Chiefs of Staff may only have their advice relayed to the President, National Security Council, the Homeland Security Council, or the Secretary of Defense after submitting it to the CJCS. By law, the chairman has to present that advice whenever he is presenting his own.[9] The chain of command goes from the president to the secretary of defense to the commanders of the Combatant Commands.[10] Goldwater–Nichols also created the office of vice-chairman, and the chairman is now designated as the principal military adviser to the secretary of defense, the Homeland Security Council, the National Security Council and to the president.[11]

The Joint Staff (JS) is a headquarters staff at the Pentagon made up of personnel from all five services that assist the chairman and vice chairman in discharging their duties. It is managed by the Director of the Joint Staff (DJS) who is a lieutenant general or vice admiral.[12][13]

Military departments and services

There are three military departments within the Department of Defense:

  1. the Department of the Army, within which the United States Army is organized.
  2. the Department of the Navy, within which the United States Navy and the United States Marine Corps are organized.
  3. the Department of the Air Force, within which the United States Air Force and United States Space Force are organized.

The Military Departments are each headed by their secretary (i.e., Secretary of the Army, Secretary of the Navy and Secretary of the Air Force), appointed by the president, with the advice and consent of the Senate. They have the legal authority under Title 10 of the United States Code to conduct all the affairs of their respective departments within which the military services are organized.[14] The secretaries of the Military Departments are (by law) subordinate to the secretary of defense and (by SecDef delegation) to the deputy secretary of defense.

Secretaries of military departments, in turn, normally exercise authority over their forces by delegation through their respective service chiefs (i.e., Chief of Staff of the Army, Commandant of the Marine Corps, Chief of Naval Operations, Chief of Staff of the Air Force, and Chief of Space Operations) over forces not assigned to a Combatant Command.[15]

Secretaries of Military Departments and service chiefs do not possess operational command authority over U.S. troops (this power was stripped from them in the Defense Reorganization Act of 1958), and instead, Military Departments are tasked solely with "the training, provision of equipment, and administration of troops."

Military Services of the Department of Defense

Unified Combatant Commands

A unified combatant command is a military command composed of personnel/equipment from at least two Military Departments, which has a broad/continuing mission.[16][17]

These military departments are responsible for equipping and training troops to fight, while the Unified Combatant Commands are responsible for military forces' actual operational command.[17] Almost all operational U.S. forces are under the authority of a Unified Command.[15] The Unified Commands are governed by a Unified Command Plan—a frequently updated document (produced by the DoD), which lays out the Command's mission, geographical/functional responsibilities, and force structure.[17]

During military operations, the chain of command runs from the president to the secretary of defense to the combatant commanders of the Combatant Commands.[15]

As of 2019[update], the United States has eleven Combatant Commands, organized either on a geographical basis (known as "area of responsibility", AOR) or on a global, functional basis:[18]

edit 

Partnerships

edit 

Organization chart

DoD Organization March 2012.pdf
edit 

Political appointees

edit 

Programs and initiatives

edit 

Wide Section 40

edit 

Narrow Section 45

edit 

Extra Wide Section 50

edit 

Extra Narrow Section 55

edit 

References

  1. ↑ "Organizational and Management Planning". Odam.defense.gov. http://odam.defense.gov/omp/Functions/Organizational_Portfolios/Evolution%20of%205100.1.html. 
  2. ↑ "Directives Division". http://www.dtic.mil/whs/directives/corres/pdf/510001p.pdf. 
  3. ↑ [1] 10 USC 151. Joint Chiefs of Staff: composition; functions
  4. ↑ 10 U.S.C. § 3033 Archived March 12, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
  5. ↑ 10 U.S.C. § 5033 Archived March 12, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
  6. ↑ 10 U.S.C. § 5043 Archived March 12, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
  7. ↑ 10 U.S.C. § 8033 Archived March 12, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
  8. ↑ "10 U.S. Code § 151(b)(1) – Joint Chiefs of Staff: composition; functions" (in en). https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/10/151. 
  9. ↑ "10 U.S. Code § 151 – Joint Chiefs of Staff: composition; functions" (in en). https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/10/151. 
  10. ↑ 10 U.S.C. § 162(b) Archived May 29, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
  11. ↑ 10 U.S.C § 151(b) Archived March 12, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
  12. ↑ 10 U.S.C § 155 Archived March 12, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
  13. ↑ Polmar, Norman (2005). "Defense organization". The Naval Institute guide to the ships and aircraft of the U.S. fleet. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-59114-685-8. https://books.google.com/books?id=8MwyTX-iA2wC&pg=PA19. 
  14. ↑ 10 U.S.C. § 3013, 10 U.S.C. § 5013 and 10 U.S.C. § 8013
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 Polmar, Norman (2005). "Defense Organization". The Naval Institute guide to the ships and aircraft of the U.S. fleet. Naval Institute Press. p. 20. ISBN 978-1-59114-685-8. https://books.google.com/books?id=8MwyTX-iA2wC&pg=PA20. 
  16. ↑ Watson, Cynthia A. (2010). Combatant Commands: Origins, Structure, and Engagements. ABC-CLIO. p. 3. ISBN 978-0-313-35432-8. https://books.google.com/books?id=v183dxvXOa0C&pg=PA3. 
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 Whitley, Joe D., ed (2009). "Unified Combatant Commands and USNORTHCOM". Homeland security: legal and policy issues. American Bar Association. ISBN 978-1-60442-462-1. https://books.google.com/books?id=bJI54yr1ymQC&pg=PA44. 
  18. ↑ "Combat Commands". https://www.defense.gov/Our-Story/Combatant-Commands/. 

This is a Portal. See All portals.

Purge this page's server cache


Retrieved from ‘https://openusaproject.com/w/index.php?title=Portal:Department_of_Defense&oldid=12554’