Theassistant secretary of the army (manpower and reserve affairs), abbreviated asASA(M&RA), is a civilian official in theUnited States Department of the Army.
U.S. law provides that there shall be fiveassistant secretaries of the army appointed from civilian life by thepresident, by and with the advice and consent of theSenate.[2] The assistant secretary of the army for manpower and reserve affairs has as his principal duty the overall supervision of manpower and reserve component affairs of the Department of the Army.[3] Pursuant toUnited States ArmyGeneral Order No. 3, the assistant secretary of the army (manpower and reserve affairs) supervises army strategy, policy, programs, and compliance related to functions such as recruiting, readiness and mobilization, civilian and military manpower, medical and health affairs, family andMorale, Welfare and Recreation, the review of soldier records, force structure policy, manpower analysis, the army-wide equal employment opportunity program and critical matters pertaining to reserve affairs.[4]
The office can be traced to 1950, whenUnited States Secretary of the ArmyGordon Gray decided to centralize manpower issues for civil, military, and reserve personnel under one individual, with the position being elevated to Assistant Secretary when manpower issues proved to be a problem during the course of theKorean War.[5] The office was then abolished in 1961, with its duties transferred to the Office of theUnder Secretary of the Army, but then re-established - this time by statute - in 1968.[5]
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