United States Department of Defense |
The United States Department of Defense (DoD) is the civilian Cabinet organization of the United States government which controls the military of the United States. It is headquartered at The Pentagon and headed by the United States Secretary of Defense.
History
Proposals to coordinate the activities of the military services were initially considered by Congress in 1944. Specific plans were put forth in 1945 by the Army, the Navy, and the Joint Chiefs of
Staff. In a special message to Congress on December 19, 1945, President Harry Truman proposed
creation of a unified Department of National Defense. A proposal reached Congress in April 1946, but was held up by the Naval Affairs Committee held hearings in July 1946 due to objections to the concentration
of power in a single department. Truman eventually sent new legislation to Congress in February 1947, where it was debated and amended for several months.
On July 26, 1947, Truman signed the National Security Act of 1947, which set up the
National Military Establishment to begin operations on September 18, 1947, the day after the confirmation of James V. Forrestal as the first Secretary of Defense. The Establishment
was later renamed the Department of Defense on August 10, 1949 and the secretary was given greater authority over the military departments of the Army, Navy, and Air
Force.
It is based in The Pentagon in Arlington County, Virginia near Washington, DC.
It was created by combining the War
Department (founded in 1789) with the Navy Department (founded in 1798; formerly the
Board of Admiralty, founded in 1780). The department was formed in order to reduce
interservice rivalry which was believed to have reduced military effectiveness during World War II.
It includes Army, Air Force, Coast
Guard (wartime only), Navy, Marines and agencies such as the National Security Agency and the Defense Intelligence Agency comprise the Department.
Its annual budget is roughly $375 billion (~$1,300 per capita), which does not include billions more in supplemental expenditures
alloted by Congress throughout the year.
The command structure of the Department of Defense is defined by the Goldwater-Nichols Act of 1986. Under the act, the chain of command runs from the President of
the United States, through the Secretary of Defense, to the regional commanders within one of several commands who command all
military forces within their area of operation. The Chairman
of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the several Chiefs of
Staff are responsible for readiness of the U.S. military, but are not in the chain of command.
On February 22, 2002, the Department of Defense Office of the Inspector General has reported that DOD has not and will not
account for $1.1 trillion of "undocumentable adjustments."
As part of the September 11, 2001 attacks,
terrorists crashed a plane into one of the sections of The Pentagon,
causing part of it to collapse, killing 189 people.
Operating units
In 2003, the National Communications
System was moved to the United States Department of Homeland Security.
Technology
The DoD sponsored the research and development of the modern computer and through DARPA subsidized the creation of the Internet. It maintains the global positioning system (GPS). Each of these technologies was made available to the public
worldwide at no charge.
The DoD commissioned the design of the Ada
programming language.
Related legislation
- 1947 - National Security Act of 1947
- 1958 - Department of Defense Reorganization Act PL 85-899
- 1963 - Department of Defense Appropriations Act PL 88-149
- 1963 - Military Construction Authorization Act PL 88-174
- 1967 - Supplemental Defense Appropriations Act PL 90-8
- 1984 - Department of Defense Authorization Act PL 98-525
- 1986 - Goldwater-Nichols Act of 1986 or Department of Defense Reorganization Act PL 99-433
- 1996 - Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act PL 104-132
External links
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