United States Secretary of Defense

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Template:Short description Template:Pp Template:Use American English Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox official post The United States secretary of defense (SecDef), secondarily titled the secretary of war (SecWar),Template:Efn 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 cabinet of the United States.[1][2][3] 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.[4] 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.[5]

Subject only to the orders of the president, the secretary of defense is in the chain of command and exercises command and control, for both operational and administrative purposes, over all DoD-administered service branches Template:Sndthe Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, and Space ForceTemplate:Sndas well as the Coast Guard when its command and control is transferred to the Department of Defense.10|162-6|[6][7][8][9][10] Only the secretary of defense (or the president or Congress) can authorize the transfer of operational control of forces between the three military departments (Department of the Army, the Navy, and the Air Force) and the eleven Unified Combatant Commands.10|162-6|[6]

To ensure civilian control of the military, U.S. law provides that the secretary of defense cannot have served as an active-duty commissioned officer in the military in the preceding seven years except for generals and admirals, who cannot have served on active duty within the previous ten years. Congress can legislatively waive this restriction[11] and has done so three times, for George C. Marshall Jr., James N. Mattis, and Lloyd J. Austin III. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is the principal military adviser to the secretary of defense and the president; while the chairman may assist the secretary and president in their command functions, the chairman is not in the chain of command.[12]

Because the secretary of defense is vested with legal powers that exceed those of any commissioned officer, and is second only to the president in the military hierarchy, its incumbent has sometimes unofficially been referred to as "deputy commander-in-chief".[13][14][15] The secretary of state, the secretary of the treasury, the secretary of defense, and the attorney general are generally regarded as the four most important (and are officially the four most senior and oldest) cabinet officials because of the size and importance of their respective departments.[16]

The current secretary of defense is Pete Hegseth, who was nominated by President Donald Trump and was confirmed by the Senate on 25 January 2025.

History

File:Seal of the United States National Military Establishment (1947–1949).png
Seal of the National Military Establishment (1947–1949)

An Army, Navy, and Marine Corps were established in 1775, in concurrence with the American Revolution. The War Department, headed by the secretary of war, was created by Act of Congress in 1789 and was responsible for both the Army and Navy until the founding of a separate Department of the Navy in 1798.

File:Associate Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart Swearing Donald Rumsfeld in as Secretary of Defense at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia - NARA - 23898551.jpg
Donald Rumsfeld is sworn in as Secretary of Defense by Associate Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart as U.S. President Gerald R. Ford and Chairman of The Joint Chiefs of Staff General George S. Brown watch at The Pentagon on November 20, 1975.

Based on the experiences of World War II, proposals were soon made on how to more effectively manage the large combined military establishment. The Army generally favored centralization while the Navy had institutional preferences for decentralization and the status quo. The resulting National Security Act of 1947 was largely a compromise between these divergent viewpoints. It renamed the Department of War the Department of the Army, and added both it and the Department of the Navy to a newly established National Military Establishment (NME). The act also separated the Army Air Forces from the Army to become its own branch of service, the United States Air Force.

A new title was coined by the act for the head of the NME: Secretary of Defense. At first, each of the service secretaries maintained cabinet status. The first secretary of defense, James Forrestal, who in his previous capacity as the secretary of the Navy had opposed the creation of the new position, found it difficult to exercise authority over the other branches with the limited powers his office had at the time. To address this and other problems, the National Security Act 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.[17] 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.[18][19]

Powers and functions

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File:DoD Organization December 2013.jpg
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 (Template:UnitedStatesCode) 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.[20][21]

Office of the Secretary of Defense

Script error: No such module "Labelled list hatnote". 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.[22]

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.[23] 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 civiliansTemplate:Sndthe others being the president, the three "service secretaries" (the secretary of the Army, secretary of the Navy, and secretary of the Air Force), and the 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)Template:Sndauthorized to act as convening authority in the military justice system for General Courts-Martial (Template:UnitedStatesCode: article 22, UCMJ), Special Courts-Martial (Template:UnitedStatesCode: article 23, UCMJ), and Summary Courts-Martial (Template:UnitedStatesCode: article 24 UCMJ).

Salary

The secretary of defense is a Level I position in the Executive Schedule,5|5312-24|[24] thus earning a salary of US$246,400, as of October 2024.[25]

List of secretaries of defense

The longest-serving secretary of defense is Robert McNamara, who served for a total of 7Script error: No such module "String".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 6Script error: No such module "String".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 prior to the establishment of the Department of Defense, see the lists of secretaries of the Navy and secretaries of war prior to 1947.

Parties

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Status

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  Denotes an acting secretary of defense
No. Image Name Start End Duration Party Home State President(s)
1 File:James Forrestal - SecOfDef.jpg Template:Sortname[26] Template:Dts Template:Dts Template:Ayd style="background: Template:Party color;" | Democratic Template:Country data New York rowspan=4 style="background: Template:Party color;" | Template:Sortname
(1945–1953)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
2 File:Louis Johnson official DoD photo.jpg Template:Sortname[27] Template:Dts Template:Dts Template:Ayd style="background: Template:Party color;" | Democratic Template:Country data West Virginia
3 File:General George C. Marshall, official military photo, 1946 (cropped).JPEG Template:Sortname[28] Template:Dts Template:Dts Template:Ayd style="background: Template:Party color;" | Independent Template:Country data Pennsylvania
4 File:Robert A. Lovett cph.3a47036.jpg Template:Sortname[29] Template:Dts Template:Dts Template:Ayd style="background: Template:Party color;" | Republican Template:Country data New York
5 File:Charles Wilson official DoD photo.jpg Template:Sortname[30] Template:Dts Template:Dts Template:Ayd style="background: Template:Party color;" | Republican Template:Country data Michigan rowspan=3 style="background: Template:Party color;" | Template:Sortname
(1953–1961)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
6 File:Neil McElroy official DoD photo.jpg Template:Sortname[31] Template:Dts Template:Dts Template:Ayd style="background: Template:Party color;" | Republican Template:Country data Ohio
7 File:Thomas S Gates Jr..jpg Template:Sortname[32] Template:Dts Template:Dts Template:Ayd style="background: Template:Party color;" | Republican Template:Country data Pennsylvania
8 File:Robert McNamara 1-1.jpg Template:Sortname[33] Template:Dts Template:Dts Template:Ayd rowspan=2 style="background: Template:Party color;" | Republican Template:Country data Michigan rowspan=2 style="background: Template:Party color;" | Template:Sortname
(1961–1963)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
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(1963–1969)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
9 File:Clark Clifford photo portrait.jpg Template:Sortname[34] Template:Dts Template:Dts Template:Ayd style="background: Template:Party color;" | Democratic Template:Country data Maryland style="background: Template:Party color;" | Template:Sortname
(1963–1969)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
10 File:Melvin Laird official photo.JPEG Template:Sortname[35] Template:Dts Template:Dts Template:Ayd style="background: Template:Party color;" | Republican Template:Country data Wisconsin rowspan=3 style="background: Template:Party color;" | Template:Sortname
(1969–1974)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
11 File:ElliotLeeRichardson.jpg Template:Sortname[36] Template:Dts Template:Dts Template:Ayd style="background: Template:Party color;" | Republican Template:Country data Massachusetts
– File:Clements Deputy DoD.jpg Template:Sortname
ActingScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".[37] 		Template:Dts Template:Dts Template:Ayd style="background: Template:Party color;" | Republican Template:Country data Texas
12 File:James Schlesinger official DoD photo BW (cropped).jpg Template:Sortname[38] Template:Dts Template:Dts Template:Ayd rowspan=2 style="background: Template:Party color;" | Republican Template:Country data Virginia rowspan=2 style="background: Template:Party color;" | Template:Sortname
(1969–1974)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
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(1974–1977)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
13 File:Rumsfeld Ford admin Secretary of Defense.jpg Template:Sortname[39] Template:Dts Template:Dts Template:Ayd style="background: Template:Party color;" | Republican Template:Country data Illinois rowspan=1 style="background: Template:Party color;" | Template:Sortname
(1974–1977)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
14 File:Harold Brown photo portrait standing.jpg Template:Sortname[40] Template:Dts Template:Dts Template:Ayd style="background: Template:Party color;" | Democratic Template:Country data California style="background: Template:Party color;" | Template:Sortname
(1977–1981)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
15 File:Caspar Weinberger official photo.jpg Template:Sortname[41] Template:Dts Template:Dts Template:Ayd style="background: Template:Party color;" | Republican Template:Country data California rowspan=2 style="background: Template:Party color;" | Template:Sortname
(1981–1989)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
16 File:Frank Carlucci official portrait.JPEG Template:Sortname[42] Template:Dts Template:Dts Template:Ayd style="background: Template:Party color;" | Republican Template:Country data Virginia
– File:William Howard Taft IV, Deptuty Secretary of Defense, official portrait.JPEG Template:Sortname
ActingScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".[43] 		Template:Dts Template:Dts Template:Ayd style="background: Template:Party color;" | Republican Template:Country data Ohio rowspan=2 style="background: Template:Party color;" | Template:Sortname
(1989–1993)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
17 File:Secretary of Defense Richard B. Cheney, official portrait (cropped).jpg Template:Sortname[44] Template:Dts Template:Dts Template:Ayd style="background: Template:Party color;" | Republican Template:Country data Wyoming
18 File:Les Aspin official DoD photo.jpg Template:Sortname[45][46][47] Template:Dts Template:Dts Template:Ayd style="background: Template:Party color;" | Democratic Template:Country data Wisconsin rowspan=3 style="background: Template:Party color;" | Template:Sortname
(1993–2001)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
19 File:William Perry official DoD photo (retouched).jpg Template:Sortname[48][46][49] Template:Dts Template:Dts Template:Ayd style="background: Template:Party color;" | Democratic Template:Country data Pennsylvania
20 File:William Cohen, official portrait (cropped).jpg Template:Sortname[50] Template:Dts Template:Dts Template:Ayd style="background: Template:Party color;" | Republican Template:Country data Maine
21 File:Rumsfeld1 (cropped).jpg Template:Sortname[51] Template:Dts Template:Dts Template:Ayd
(7 years, 29 days total)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". 		style="background: Template:Party color;" | Republican Template:Country data Illinois rowspan=1 style="background: Template:Party color;" | Template:Sortname
(2001–2009)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
22 File:Robert Gates, official DoD photo portrait, 2006 (cropped).jpg Template:Sortname[52][46] Template:Dts Template:Dts Template:Ayd rowspan=2 style="background: Template:Party color;" | Republican Template:Country data Texas rowspan=1 style="background: Template:Party color;" | Template:Sortname
(2001–2009)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
rowspan=1 style="background: Template:Party color;" | Template:Sortname
(2009–2017)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
23 File:Leon Panetta, official DoD photo portrait, 2011 (cropped).jpg Template:Sortname[53] Template:Dts Template:Dts Template:Ayd style="background: Template:Party color;" | Democratic Template:Country data California rowspan=3 style="background: Template:Party color;" | Template:Sortname
(2009–2017)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
24 File:Chuck Hagel Defense portrait (cropped).jpg Template:Sortname[54] Template:Dts Template:Dts Template:Ayd style="background: Template:Party color;" | Republican Template:Country data Nebraska
25 File:Ash Carter DOD Secretary Portrait (cropped).jpg Template:Sortname[55][46] Template:Dts Template:Dts Template:Ayd style="background: Template:Party color;" | Democratic Template:Country data Massachusetts
26 File:James Mattis official photo (cropped).jpg Template:Sortname[56] Template:Dts Template:Dts Template:Ayd style="background: Template:Party color;" | Independent Template:Country data Washington rowspan=6 style="background: Template:Party color;" | Template:Sortname
(2017–2021)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
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– File:Mark T. Esper (cropped).jpg Template:Sortname
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– File:Richard V. Spencer official photo (cropped).jpg Template:Sortname
ActingScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".[59] 		Template:Dts Template:Dts Template:Ayd style="background: Template:Party color;" | Republican Template:Country data Wyoming
27 File:Dr. Mark T. Esper – Acting Secretary of Defense (cropped).jpg Template:Sortname[58] Template:Dts Template:Dts Template:Ayd style="background: Template:Party color;" | Republican Template:Country data Virginia
– File:Christopher C. Miller official portrait (cropped).jpg Template:Sortname
ActingScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".[58] 		Template:Dts Template:Dts Template:Ayd style="background: Template:Party color;" | Republican Template:Country data Iowa
– File:David L. Norquist – Deputy Secretary of Defense (cropped).jpg Template:Sortname
ActingScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".[60] 		Template:Dts Template:Dts Template:Ayd style="background: Template:Party color;" | Republican Template:Country data Massachusetts rowspan=2 style="background: Template:Party color;" | Template:Sortname
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28 File:Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, official portrait, 2023 (cropped).jpg Template:Sortname[61] Template:Dts Template:Dts Template:Ayd style="background: Template:Party color;" | Independent Template:Country data Georgia (U.S. state)
– File:Official portrait of Robert Salesses.jpg Template:Sortname
ActingScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". 		Template:Dts Template:Dts Template:Ayd style="background: Template:Party color;" | Independent Template:Country data Rhode Island rowspan=2 style="background: Template:Party color;" | Template:Sortname
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29 File:Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth official portrait (cropped).jpg Template:Sortname Template:Dts Incumbent Template:Ayd style="background: Template:Party color;" | Republican Template:Country data Minnesota

Succession

Presidential succession

The secretary of defense is sixth in the presidential line of succession, following the secretary of the treasury and preceding the attorney general.[62]

Secretary succession

On December 10, 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:[63]

# 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
General Counsel of the Air Force
*Order of Succession is determined by the seniority of officials in their role.Template:Efn
**Office dissolved on January 1, 2021.Template:Efn

Notes

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See also

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References

Citations

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General sources

Federal law

Directives, regulations and manuals

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Further reading

Primary historical sources

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Online sources

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External links

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Preceded byas Secretary of the Treasury Template:S-bef/check Order of precedence of the United States
as Secretary of DefenseScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". Template:S-ttl/check 		Template:S-aft/check Succeeded byas Attorney General
Preceded byTemplate:S-bef/check 6th in line Template:S-ttl/check Template:S-aft/check Succeeded by
  1. ↑ Template:UnitedStatesCode.
  2. ↑ DoDD 5100.1: Enclosure 2: a
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  6. ↑ 10|162_6-0|a 10|162_6-1|b Template:UnitedStatesCode
  7. ↑ Joint Publication 1: II-9, II-10 & II-11.
  8. ↑ Template:UnitedStatesCode
  9. ↑ Template:UnitedStatesCode
  10. ↑ Template:UnitedStatesCode
  11. ↑ See Template:UnitedStatesCode. The National Security Act of 1947 originally required an interval of ten years after relief from active duty, which was reduced to seven years by Sec. 903(a) of the 2008 National Defense Authorization Act. In 1950 Congress passed special legislation (Pub. Law 81-788) to allow George C. Marshall to serve as Secretary of Defense while remaining a commissioned officer on the active list of the Army (Army regulations kept all five-star generals on active duty for life), but warned:

    It is hereby expressed as the intent of the Congress that the authority granted by this Act is not to be construed as approval by the Congress of continuing appointments of military men to the office of Secretary of Defense in the future. It is hereby expressed as the sense of the Congress that after General Marshall leaves the office of Secretary of Defense, no additional appointments of military men to that office shall be approved.

    Defenselink bio Template:Webarchive, Retrieved February 8, 2010; and Marshall Foundation bio Template:Webarchive, Retrieved February 8, 2010.

  12. ↑ Template:UnitedStatesCode
  13. ↑ Trask & Goldberg: pp.11 & 52
  14. ↑ Cohen: p.231.
  15. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  16. ↑ Cabinets and Counselors: The President and the Executive Branch (1997). Congressional Quarterly. p. 87.
  17. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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  20. ↑ Department of Defense Directive 5100.01 Functions of the Department of Defense and Its Major Components
  21. ↑ DoDD 5100.1: p.1.
  22. ↑ DoDM 1348.33, Vol 3: p.39 (Enclosure 3)
  23. ↑ Template:UnitedStatesCode
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  25. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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  46. ↑ a b c d Department of Defense Key Officials September 1947 – February 2019
  47. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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  62. ↑ Template:UnitedStatesCode.
  63. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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