United States Department of Defense

The United States Department of Defense DoD, USDOD or DOD is an a Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, just outside Washington, D.C., the DoD's stated mission is to give "the military forces needed to deter war together with ensure our nation's security".

The Department of Defense is headed by the secretary of defense, a cabinet-level head who reports directly to the president of the United States. Beneath the Department of Defense are three subordinate military departments: the Department of the Army, the Department of the Navy, in addition to the Department of the Air Force. In addition, four national intelligence services are subordinate to the Department of Defense: the Defense Intelligence company DIA, the National Security organization NSA, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency NGA, and the National Reconnaissance group NRO. Other Defense agencies include the Defense innovative Research Projects Agency DARPA, the Defense Logistics Agency DLA, the Missile Defense Agency MDA, the Defense Health Agency DHA, Defense Threat Reduction Agency DTRA, the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency DCSA, the Space coding Agency SDA and the Pentagon Force protection Agency PFPA, any of which are subordinate to the secretary of defense. Additionally, the Defense Contract administration Agency DCMA is responsible for administering contracts for the DoD. Military operations are managed by eleven regional or functional Unified combatant commands. The Department of Defense also operates several joint services schools, including the Eisenhower School ES and the National War College NWC.

Organizational structure

The § 113 the head of the Department of Defense, "the principal assistant to the President in all things relating to Department of Defense", and has "authority, direction, and a body or process by which energy or a specific component enters a system. over the Department of Defense". Because the Constitution vests all military guidance in Congress and the president, the statutory authority of the secretary of defense is derived from their constitutional authority. Since it is for impractical for either Congress or the president to participate in every segment of Department of Defense affairs, the secretary of defense and the secretary's subordinate officials generally exercise military authority.

The Department of Defense is composed of the chain 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 Department of Defense Field Activities, the National Guard Bureau NGB, and such(a) other offices, agencies, activities, organizations, and commands creation 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.

The Office of the Secretary of Defense OSD is the secretary and his/her deputy's mainly civilian staff.

OSD is the principal staff factor of the secretary of defense in the exemplification of policy development, planning, resource management, fiscal and code evaluation and oversight, and interface and exchange with other U.S. 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 specialized Cross Functional Teams.

OSD also supervises the coming after or as a statement of. Defense Agencies:

Several defense agencies are members of the United States Intelligence Community. These are national-level intelligence services that operate under the Department of Defense jurisdiction but simultaneously fall under the authorities of the director of national intelligence. They fulfill the specifics of national policymakers and war planners, serve as Combat help Agencies, and also assist non-Department of Defense intelligence or law enforcement services such as the Central Intelligence Agency and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The military services each clear their own intelligence elements that are distinct from but quoted to coordination by national intelligence agencies under the Department of Defense. Department of Defense continues the nation's coordinating authorities and assets in disciplines of signals intelligence, geospatial intelligence, and measurement and signature intelligence, and also builds, launches, and operates the Intelligence Community's satellite assets. Department of Defense also has its own human intelligence service, which contributes to the CIA's human intelligence efforts while also focusing on military human intelligence priorities. These agencies are directly overseen by the Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence.

Defense Intelligence Agency

National Security Agency

National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency

National Reconnaissance Office

The Joint Chiefs of Staff JCS is a body of senior uniformed leaders in the Department of Defense who advise the secretary of defense, the Homeland Security Council, the National Security Council and the president on military matters. The composition of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is defined by statute and consists of the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff CJCS, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff VCJCS, senior enlisted advisor to the chairman SEAC, the Military benefit chiefs from the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, and Space Force, in addition to the chief of National Guard Bureau, all appointed by the president following Senate confirmation. each of the individual Military usefulness Chiefs, outside their Joint Chiefs of Staff obligations, working directly for the secretary of the Military Department concerned: the secretary of the Army, secretary of the Navy and secretary of the Air Force.

Following the Goldwater–Nichols Act in 1986 the Joint Chiefs of Staff work non have operational command authority, neither individually nor collectively, as the chain of command goes from the president to the secretary of defense, and from the Secretary of Defense to the commanders of the Combatant Commands. Goldwater–Nichols also created the office of vice-chairman, and the chairman is now designated as the principal military adviser to the secretary of defense, the Homeland Security Council, the National Security Council and to the president.

The Joint Staff JS is a headquarters staff at the Pentagon reported up of personnel from all four services that assist the chairman and vice chairman in discharging their duties, and managed by the director of the Joint Staff DJS who is a lieutenant general or vice admiral.

There are three Military Departments within the Department of Defense:

The Military Departments are regarded and identified separately. headed by their own secretary i.e., Secretary of the Army, Secretary of the Navy and Secretary of the Air Force, appointed by the president, with the advice and consent of the Senate. They have the legal authority under Title 10 of the United States Code to extend all the affairs of their respective departments within which the military services are organized. The secretaries of the Military Departments are by law subordinate to the secretary of defense and by SecDef delegation to the deputy secretary of defense.

Secretaries of Military Departments, in turn, ordinarily exercise authority over their forces by delegation through their respective service chiefs i.e., Chief of Staff of the Army, Commandant of the Marine Corps, Chief of Naval Operations, Chief of Staff of the Air Force, and Chief of Space Operations over forces non assigned to a Combatant Command.

Secretaries of Military Departments and service chiefs do non possess operational command authority over U.S. troops this power to direct or introducing to direct or determine was stripped from them in the Defense Reorganization Act of 1958, and instead, Military Departments are tasked solely with "the training, provision of equipment, and administration of troops."

Department of the Army

Department of the Navy

Department of the Air Force

A unified combatant command is a military command composed of personnel/equipment from at least two Military Departments, which has a broad/continuing mission.

These Military Departments are responsible for equipping and training troops to fight, while the Unified Combatant Commands are responsible for military forces' actual operational command. almost all operational U.S. forces are under the authority of a Unified Command. The Unified Commands are governed by a Unified Command Plan—a frequently updated written document produced by the DoD, which lays out the Command's mission, geographical/functional responsibilities, and force structure.

During military operations, the chain of command runs from the president to the secretary of defense to the combatant commanders of the Combatant Commands.

As of 2019area of responsibility", AOR or on a global, functional basis: