Office of the Secretary of Defense

Image:DoD Structure Jan2008.png

The Secretary and Deputy Secretary manage several Under Secretaries each of whom in turn manage several Assistant Secretaries of Defense. There are also several special officers reporting directly to the Secretary of Defense.

Major elements of OSD (listed hierarchically):

• Secretary of Defense (SecDef) and Deputy Secretary of Defense (DepSecDef)
• Special officers reporting directly to Secretary and Deputy
• Executive Secretary of the Office of the Secretary of Defense (ExecSec){{cite web |title=The Executive Secretary, Office of the Secretary of Defense |url=https://execsec.defense.gov/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120117124400/http://execsec.defense.gov/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=January 17, 2012 |publisher=United States Department of Defense |access-date=February 8, 2024 |quote=On behalf of the American Warfighter and Taxpayer, the Executive Secretariat supports the Secretary and Deputy Secretary of Defense decision making, selected DoD resource allocation, and immediate office management by ensuring accurate, concise, coordinated and timely tasking and processing of executive correspondence as the primary Department of Defense administrative liaison to the White House, National Security Council, and Interagency.}}
• Senior Military Assistant to the Secretary of Defense
• General Counsel of the Department of Defense
• Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Intelligence Oversight (ATSD(IO))
• Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs (ATSD(PA))
• Chief Information Officer (DoD CIO){{cite web |title=Chief Information Officer |url=https://dodcio.defense.gov/ |publisher=United States Department of Defense |access-date=February 8, 2024 |quote=The DoD CIO is the principal staff assistant and senior advisor to the Secretary of Defense and Deputy Secretary of Defense for information technology (IT) (including national security systems and defense business systems), information resources management (IRM), and efficiencies. This means that DoD CIO is responsible for all matters relating to the DoD information enterprise, such as cybersecurity, communications, information systems, and more.}}
• Senior Designated Officials of SECDEF-Empowered Cross Functional Teams
• Assistant Secretaries reporting directly to Secretary and Deputy
• Assistant Secretary of Defense for Legislative Affairs (LA)
• Under Secretaries
• Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller)/Chief Financial Officer (C/CFO)
• Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment (A&S)
• Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment
• Assistant Secretary of Defense for Acquisition
• Assistant Secretary of Defense for Sustainment
• Assistant Secretary of Defense for Energy, Installations, and Environment
• Assistant Secretary of Defense for Nuclear, Chemical & Biological Defense Programs (NCB)
• Assistant Secretary of Defense for Industrial Base Policy (IBP)
• Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security (I&S)
• Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness (P&R)
• Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness
• Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs (HA)
• Assistant Secretary of Defense for Manpower and Reserve Affairs (M&RA)
• Assistant Secretary of Defense for Readiness and Force Management
• Executive Director, Defense Human Resources Activity (DHRA)
• Executive Director, Force Resiliency{{cite web |title=Office of Force Resiliency |url=https://prhome.defense.gov/Home/Organization/OFR/ |publisher=United States Department of Defense |access-date=February 8, 2024 |quote=The mission of the Office of the Executive Director for Force Resiliency is to strengthen and promote the resiliency and readiness of the Total Force through the development of integrated policies, oversight, and synchronization of activities in the areas of diversity management and equal opportunity, personnel risk reduction, suicide prevention, sexual assault prevention and response, and collaborative efforts with the Department of Veterans' Affairs.}}
• Executive Director, Personnel and Readiness
• Under Secretary of Defense for Policy (P)
• Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Policy
• Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs (IPSA)
• Assistant Secretary of Defense for Global Strategic Affairs (GSA)
• Assistant Secretary of Defense for Homeland Defense and Hemispheric Affairs (HD&HA)
• Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs (ISA)
• Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations and Low Intensity Conflict (SO&LIC)
• Assistant Secretary of Defense for Space Policy
• Assistant Secretary of Defense for Strategy, Plans, and Capabilities
• Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering
• Directors
• Director of Administration and Management (DA&M)
• Director of Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation (CAPE)
• Director of Family Policy
• Director of Force Transformation
• Director of Net Assessment
• Director of Corrosion Policy and Oversight{{cite web |title=10 USC 2228: Office of Corrosion Policy and Oversight |url=https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid%3AUSC-prelim-title10-section2228&num=0&edition=prelim |website=United States Code |publisher=United States House of Representatives |access-date=February 8, 2024 |quote=The Director is responsible in the Department of Defense to the Secretary of Defense (after the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment) for the prevention and mitigation of corrosion of the military equipment and infrastructure of the Department of Defense.}}
• Director, Operational Test and Evaluation (DOT&E)
• Director of Small Business Programs

• Assistant Secretary of Defense for Networks and Information Integration (NII)
• Defense Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO)

The composition of OSD is in a state of consistent flux, as Congress and DoD routinely create new offices, redesignate existing ones, and abolish others.{{citation needed|date=December 2018}}

During the Obama administration, Congress has sought to clarify the organization of OSD, and has worked with the department to move toward a standardization of official naming conventions. Many Defense officials, including the Deputy Secretary of Defense (DEPSECDEF), all five Under Secretaries of Defense (USDs), and all Assistant Secretaries of Defense (ASDs), as well as any officials specifically designated in U.S. CodeTitle X, Subtitle A, Part 1, Chapter 4, https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/usc_sup_01_10_10_A_20_I_30_4.html have historically been considered Presidentially-Appointed, Senate-Confirmed (PAS) officials, in that the Senate must provide "advice and consent" for each individual before he or she can operate in an official capacity. In a March 2009 letter, Senator Carl Levin, Chairman of the Senate Armed Service Committee, wrote that the department was apparently exercising the authority to appoint other significant officials—termed Deputy Under Secretaries of Defense (DUSDs)—"without statutory authorization, without limitation, and without Senate confirmation." Levin was "concerned that the proliferation of DUSDs at multiple levels of the organization could muddy lines of authority and may not be in the best interest of the Department of Defense."{{cite web |url=http://odam.defense.gov/omp/Library/Revised_Organizational_Structure_for_OSD_Apr_2010(stnd_res).pdf |title=Revised Organizational Structure for the Office of the Secretary of Defense |date=April 2010 |work=Report to Congress |author=ODAM |publisher=Department of Defense |pages=33–34 |access-date=August 30, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110815051449/http://odam.defense.gov/omp/Library/Revised_Organizational_Structure_for_OSD_Apr_2010(stnd_res).pdf |archive-date=August 15, 2011 |url-status=dead}} Subsequent legislation established five Senate-confirmed Principal Deputies (i.e., "first assistants"), one for each Under Secretary of Defense.

The FY10 NDAA gave the Department of Defense until January 1, 2011, to eliminate or redesignate all other Deputy Under Secretaries who are not Principal Deputy Under Secretaries of Defense (PDUSDs). The FY11 NDAA extended this deadline to January 1, 2015. During that time, the Secretary may, at his or her discretion, appoint within OSD five additional non-PAS DUSDs beyond the five statutory PAS-PDUSDs. The USD(I) appears to be maintaining at least three non-PAS DUSDs, although they have been renamed. The USD (AT&L) has maintained the non-PAS DUSD for Installations and Environment, though the FY11 NDAA recommended merging this post with the newly created ASD for Operational Energy Plans and Programs. The USD(P) has maintained a non-PAS DUSD for Strategy, Plans, and Forces, though the FY11 NDAA recommended eliminating this position.

Nevertheless, a number of positions have been redesignated or eliminated during the Obama administration, pursuant to statutory language contained in the National Defense Authorization Acts of FY10{{cite web |url=http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-111hr2647enr/pdf/BILLS-111hr2647enr.pdf |title=National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010 |date= October 28, 2009 |quote=H.R. 2647 |author=111th Congress |publisher=Government Printing Office}} and FY11.Title IX, Subtitle A, Section 901, Part b, Section 4, http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-111hr6523enr/pdf/BILLS-111hr6523enr.pdf and subsequent internal DoD reports.{{cite web |url=http://odam.defense.gov/omp/Library/Revised_Organizational_Structure_for_OSD_Apr_2010(stnd_res).pdf |title=Revised Organizational Structure for the Office of the Secretary of Defense |date=April 2010 |work=Report to Congress |author=ODAM |publisher=Department of Defense |access-date=August 30, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110815051449/http://odam.defense.gov/omp/Library/Revised_Organizational_Structure_for_OSD_Apr_2010(stnd_res).pdf |archive-date=August 15, 2011 |url-status=dead}}

:* Director for Defense Intelligence = DDI, DUSD = Deputy Under Secretary of Defense, ASD = Assistant Secretary of Defense, DASD = Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense

• The Air Staff
• Headquarters Marine Corps
• The Joint Staff
• Office of the Secretary of the Army
• Office of the Secretary of the Navy
• Office of the Secretary of the Air Force
• Secretary of Defense-Empowered Cross-Functional Teams

{{Reflist}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20100527161707/https://www.cia.gov/about-cia/leadership/leon-e-panetta.html Office of the Secretary of Defense]
• [http://www.acq.osd.mil/ Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics (AcqWeb)]

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{{US Department of Defense Secretaries}}

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