TheUnited States Department of Defense (DoD,[2]USDOD, orDOD) is anexecutive department of theU.S. federal government charged with coordinating and supervising the six U.S. armed services: theArmy,Navy,Marines,Air Force,Space Force, theCoast Guard for some purposes, and related functions and agencies. As of November 2022, the department has over 1.4 million active-duty uniformed personnel in the six armed services.[3] It also supervises over 778,000National Guard and reservist personnel, and over 747,000 civilians, bringing the total to over 2.91 million employees.[1] Headquartered atthe Pentagon inArlington County, Virginia, just outsideWashington, 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".[4][5] The currentsecretary of defense isPete Hegseth.
Upon the seating of the1st U.S. Congress on 4 March 1789, legislation to create a military defense force stagnated as they focused on other concerns relevant to setting up the new government. PresidentGeorge Washington went to Congress to remind them of their duty to establish a military twice during this time. Finally, on the last day of the session, 29 September 1789, Congress created theWar Department.[9][10] The War Department handled naval affairs until Congress created theNavy Department in 1798. The secretaries of each department reported directly to the president as cabinet-level advisors until 1949, when all military departments became subordinate to the Secretary of Defense.
National Military Establishment
President Truman signs the National Security Act Amendment of 1949.
The National Military Establishment formally began operations on 18 September, the day after theSenate confirmedJames V. Forrestal as the first secretary of defense.[13] The National Military Establishment was renamed the "Department of Defense" on 10 August 1949, and absorbed the three cabinet-level military departments, in an amendment to the original 1947 law.[15] The renaming is alleged to be due to the Establishment's abbreviation, NME, being pronounced "enemy."[16]
Under theDepartment of Defense Reorganization Act of 1958 (Pub. L.85–599), channels of authority within the department were streamlined while still maintaining the ordinary jurisdiction of the Military Departments to organize, train, and equip their associated forces. The Act clarified the overall decision-making authority of the secretary of defense concerning these subordinate military departments. It more clearly defined the operationalchain of command over U.S. military forces (created by the military departments) as running from the president to the secretary of defense, the service chief of the unified combatant commanders, and then to the unified combatant commanders.[17] Also provided in this legislation was a centralized research authority, theAdvanced Research Projects Agency, eventually known asDARPA. The act was written and promoted by the Eisenhower administration and was signed into law on 6 August 1958.
Organization of the Department of Defense following the creation of the United States Space ForceA December 2013 Department of Defense organizational chart
Thesecretary of defense, appointed by the president with the advice and consent of theSenate, 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 theConstitution vests all military authority inCongress and the president, the statutory authority of the secretary of defense is derived from their constitutional authority. 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.
A 2008 Office of the Secretary of Defense organizational chart
TheOffice 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 otherU.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 specializedCross Functional Teams.
Several defense agencies are members of theUnited States Intelligence Community. These are national-level intelligence services that operate under the Department of Defense jurisdiction but simultaneously fall under the authorities of theOffice of the Director of National Intelligence. They fulfill the requirements of national policymakers and war planners, serve asCombat Support Agencies, and also assist and deploy alongside non-Department of Defense intelligence or law enforcement services such as theCentral Intelligence Agency and theFederal 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 ofsignals intelligence,geospatial intelligence, andmeasurement and signature intelligence, and also builds, launches, and operates the Intelligence Community's satellite assets. Department of Defense also has its ownhuman intelligenceservice, which contributes to the CIA's human intelligence efforts while also focusing on military human intelligence priorities. These agencies are directly overseen by theunder secretary of defense for intelligence and security.
National Intelligence Agencies under the Department of Defense
Following theGoldwater–Nichols Act in 1986, theJoint 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".[25] The remaining Joint Chiefs of Staff may only have their advice relayed to the president, National Security Council, theHomeland 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.[26] The chain of command goes from thepresident to thesecretary of defense to thecommanders of the Combatant Commands.[27] Goldwater–Nichols also created the office of vice-chairman, and the chairman is now designated as theprincipal military adviser to the secretary of defense, the Homeland Security Council, the National Security Council and to the president.[28]
Military departments are tasked solely with "the training, provision of equipment, and administration of troops."[31] TheDefense Reorganization Act of 1958 removed the power of command over troops from secretaries of military departments and service chiefs.
U.S. Department of Defense combatant command areas of responsibility
Aunified combatant command is a military command composed of personnel/equipment from at least two Military Departments, which has a broad, continuing mission.[32] They are responsible for the operational command of forces. Almost all operational U.S. forces are under the authority of a Unified Command.[31] The DODUnified Command Plan lays out combatant commands' missions, geographical/functional responsibilities, and force structure.[32]
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:[33]
Defense spending as a percent ofgross domestic product from 1792 to 2017Total United States Defense outlays from 1962 to 2024 in $millions (2019 to 2024 are estimated)
Department of Defense spending in 2017 was 3.15% of GDP and accounted for about 38% of the budgetedglobal military spending – more than the next 7 largest militaries combined.[34] By 2019, the 27th secretary of defense had begun a line-by-line review of the defense budget; in 2020 the secretary identified items amounting to $5.7 billion, out of a $106 billion subtotal (the so-called "fourth estate" agencies such as missile defense, and defense intelligence, amounting to 16% of the defense budget),[35][36] He will re-deploy to the modernization of hypersonics, artificial intelligence, and missile defense.[35] Beyond 2021 the 27th secretary of defense is projecting the need for yearly budget increases of 3 to 5 percent to modernize.[37]
The Department of Defense accounts for the majority of federal discretionary spending. In FY 2017, the Department of Defense budgeted spending accounted for 15% of the U.S. federal budget, and 49% of federaldiscretionary spending, which represents funds not accounted for by pre-existing obligations. However, this does not include many military-related items that are outside the Department of Defense budget, such as nuclear weapons research, maintenance, cleanup, and production, which is in the Department of Energy budget, Veterans Affairs, the Treasury Department's payments in pensions to military retirees and widows and their families, interest on debt incurred in past wars, or State Department financing of foreign arms sales and militarily-related development assistance. Neither does it include defense spending that is not military, such as the Department of Homeland Security, counter-terrorism spending by the FBI, and intelligence-gathering spending by the NSA.
In the2010 United States federal budget, the Department of Defense was allocated a base budget of $533.7 billion, with a further $75.5 billion adjustment in respect of 2009, and $130 billion for overseas contingencies.[38] The subsequent 2010 Department of Defense Financial Report shows the total budgetary resources forfiscal year 2010 were $1.2 trillion.[39] Of these resources, $1.1 trillion were obligated and $994 billion were disbursed, with the remaining resources relating to multi-year modernization projects requiring additional time to procure.[39] After over a decade ofnon-compliance, as part of theNational Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010,Congress established a deadline ofFiscal year 2017 for the Department of Defense to achieveaudit readiness,[40] although this did not end up occurring.
In 2015 the allocation for the Department of Defense was $585 billion,[41] thehighest level of budgetary resources among all federal agencies, and this amounts to more than one-half of the annual federal expenditures in the United States federal budgetdiscretionary budget.[42]
On 28 September 2018, PresidentDonald Trump signed the Department of Defense and Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations Act, 2019, and Continuing Appropriations Act, 2019 (H.R.6157) into law.[43] On 30 September 2018, the FY2018 Budget expired and the FY2019 budget came into effect.
FY2019
The FY2019 Budget for the Department of Defense is approximately $686,074,048,000[44] (Including Base + Overseas Contingency Operations + Emergency Funds) in discretionary spending and $8,992,000,000 in mandatory spending totaling $695,066,000,000
Undersecretary of Defense (Comptroller)David L. Norquist said in a hearing regarding the FY 2019 budget: "The overall number you often hear is $716 billion. That is the amount of funding for national defense, the accounting code is 050 and includes more than simply the Department of Defense. It includes, for example, the Department of Energy and others. That large a number, if you back out the $30 billion for non-defense agencies, you get to $686 billion. That is the funding for the Department of Defense, split between $617 billion in base and $69 billion inoverseas contingency".[45]
The Department of Defense budget encompasses the majority of the National Defense Budget of approximately $716.0 billion in discretionary spending and $10.8 billion in mandatory spending for a $726.8 billion total. Of the total, $708.1 billion falls under the jurisdiction of theHouse Committee on Armed Services andSenate Armed Services Committee and is subject to authorization by the annualNational Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The remaining $7.9 billion falls under the jurisdiction of other congressional committees.[46]
The Department of Defense is unique because it is one of the few federal entities where the majority of its funding falls into the discretionary category. The majority of the entire federal budget is mandatory, and much of the discretionary funding in the budget consists of DoD dollars.
Budget overview
DoD Base + OCO + Emergency budget by appropriation title[47]
Title
FY 2019 ($ in thousands)*
Military Personnel
$152,883,052
Operation and Maintenance
$283,544,068
Procurement
$144,340,905
RDT&E
$92,364,681
Revolving and Management Funds
$1,557,305
Defense Bill
$674,690,011
Military Construction
$9,801,405
Family Housing
$1,582,632
Military Construction Bill
$11,384,037
Total
$686,074,048
* Numbers may not add due to rounding
FY2024
As of 10 March 2023 thefiscal year 2024 (FY2024) presidential budget request was $842billion.[a] In January 2023, Treasury SecretaryJanet Yellen announced the US government would hit its $31.4trilliondebt ceiling on 19 January 2023;[50] the date on which the US government would no longer be able to useextraordinary measures such as issuance ofTreasury securities is estimated to be in June 2023.[51] On 3 June 2023, the debt ceiling was suspended until 2025.[52] The $886billionNational Defense Authorization Act is facing reconciliation of theHouse andSenate bills after passing both houses 27 July 2023; the conferees have to be chosen, next.[53][54][55] As of September 2023, aContinuing resolution is needed to prevent aGovernment shutdown.[56][57] A shutdown was avoided on 30 September for 45 days (until 17 November 2023),[58][59][60][61] with passage of the NDAA on 14 December 2023.[62] The Senate will next undertake negotiations on supplemental spending for 2024.[63][64] A government shutdown was averted on 23 March 2024 with the signing of a $1.2 trillion bill to cover FY2024.[65][66]
A 2013Reuters investigation concluded thatDefense Finance and Accounting Service, the Department of Defense's primary financial management arm, implements monthly "unsubstantiated change actions"—illegal, inaccurate "plugs"—that forcibly make DoD's books match Treasury's books.[67]Reuters reported thatthe Pentagon was the only federal agency that had not released annual audits as required by a 1992 law. According to Reuters, the Pentagon "annually reports to Congress that its books are in such disarray that an audit is impossible".[68][69]
In 2015, a Pentagon consulting firm performed an audit on the Department of Defense's budget. It found that there was $125 billion in wasteful spending that could be saved over the next five years without layoffs or reduction in military personnel. In 2016,The Washington Post uncovered that rather than taking the advice of the auditing firm, senior defense officials suppressed and hid the report from the public to avoid political scrutiny.[70] In June 2016, theOffice of the Inspector General released a report stating that the Army made $6.5 trillion in wrongful adjustments to its accounting entries in 2015.[71] The Department of Defense failed its fifth audit in 2022, and could not account for more than 60% of its $3.5 trillion in assets.[72]
In the latestCenter for Effective Government analysis of 15 federal agencies which receive the mostFreedom of Information Act requests, published in 2015 (using 2012 and 2013 data, the most recent years available), the DoD earned 61 out of a possible 100 points, a D− grade. While it had improved from a failing grade in 2013, it still had low scores in processing requests (55%) and disclosure rules (42%).[73]
^Millett, Allan R.; Maslowski, Peter; Feis, William B. (2012) [1984]. "The American Revolution, 1763–1783".For the Common Defense: A Military History of the United States from 1607 to 2012 (3rd ed.). The Free Press (a division of Simon & Schuster).ISBN978-1451623536.
^Joe Carmel, ed. (n.d.) [Original Statute 1789]."Statutes at Large, Session I, Charter XXV"(PDF).Legisworks. Archived from the original on 25 May 2017. Retrieved28 January 2018.An Act to recognize and adapt to the Constitution of the United States the establishment of the Troops raised under the Resolves of the United States in Congress assembled, and for other purposes therein mentioned.
Death and Taxes: 2009—A visual guide and infographic of the 2009 United States federal budget, including the Department of Defense with data provided by the Comptrollers office.
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