Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs

In America, the Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs or ASD(ISA) is the principal advisor to the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy (USD(P)) and the Secretary of Defense on international security strategy and policy on issues of DoD interest related to the governments and defense establishments of the nations and international organizations of Europe (including the North Atlantic Treaty Organization), the Middle East, and Africa. The ASD(ISA) also oversees security cooperation programs and foreign military sales programs in these regions.^[1] Despite the broad title of the offce, the ASD(ISA) does not develop policy related to Asia, the Pacific region, Latin America, or South America.

1 Responsibilities
2 Office Holders
3 Structure
- 3.1 Principal Deputy Assistant Secretaries for International Security Affairs
- 3.2 Deputy Assistant Secretaries of Defense Reporting to the ASD(ISA)
4 See also
5 References

Responsibilities

According to a description provided by the Office of the USD (P),^[1] the ASD(ISA) shall:

Conduct and manage day-to-day, multilateral, regional, and bilateral defense relations with all foreign governments in assigned areas of responsibility.
Develop regional security and defense strategy and policy, provide advice, and issue guidance to translate global and functional policies into regional-specific country strategies, and oversee their implementation in coordination with cognizant DoD officials.
For countries in assigned areas of responsibility, develop, coordinate, and oversee the implementation of:
- Defense security policy and management of defense and military relations
- Policy, plans, and activities, as well as uses of DoD resources engaged in encouraging the development of military capabilities, constitutional democracy and respect for human rights, including civilian control of the military, institutionalizing an appropriate role for the military in a constitutional democracy, and encouraging the development of standards of military professionalism that promote respect for elected civilian authorities and human rights.
- DoD policy and recommendations concerning security cooperation programs and organizations, foreign military sales, military education and training, and other missions pertaining to security cooperation program relationships.
Develop, coordinate, and oversee the implementation of policy related to NATO, Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council, the Partnership for Peace, and other institutions with a security dimension including the European Union, Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), and the African Union.
Provide policy guidance and oversight to the Defense Advisor, U.S. Mission to NATO, and Representative of the Secretary of Defense Representative to the OSCE on behalf of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy. Promote coordination, cooperation, and joint planning on nuclear policy and strategy with NATO Allies, in coordination with the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations/Low Intensity Conflict and Interdependent Capabilities.
Support the NATO Nuclear Planning Group and its subordinate body, the High Level Group and chair the High Level Group.
Represent the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy and the Secretary of Defense in interagency policy deliberations and international negotiations dealing with assigned areas of responsibility.
Monitor and provide policy recommendations related to the conduct of U.S. military operations in the countries or regions of focus or on the participation of such countries in operations outside of the region.
Perform such other functions as the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy or the Secretary of Defense may prescribe.

Office Holders

The table below includes both the various titles of this post over time, as well as all the holders of those offices.

Assistant Secretaries of Defense (International Security Affairs)^[2]
Name	Tenure	SecDef(s) Served Under	President(s) Served Under
Assistant to the Secretary of Defense (International Security Affairs)
John H. Ohly	March 27, 1949 - December 1, 1949	Louis A. Johnson	Harry Truman
Maj. Gen. James H. Burns (USA)	December 6, 1949 - August 27, 1951	Louis A. Johnson George C. Marshall	Harry Truman
Frank C. Nash	August 28, 1951 - February 10, 1953	George C. Marshall Robert A. Lovett Charles E. Wilson	Harry Truman Dwight Eisenhower
Assistant Secretary of Defense (International Security Affairs)
Frank C. Nash	February 11, 1953 - February 28, 1954	Charles E. Wilson	Dwight Eisenhower
H. Struve Hensel	March 5, 1954 - June 30, 1955	Charles E. Wilson	Dwight Eisenhower
Gordon Gray	July 14, 1955 - February 27, 1957	Charles E. Wilson	Dwight Eisenhower
Mansfield D. Sprague	February 28, 1957 - October 3, 1958	Charles E. Wilson Neil H. McElroy	Dwight Eisenhower
John N. Irwin II	October 4, 1958 - January 20, 1961	Neil H. McElroy Thomas S. Gates	Dwight Eisenhower
Paul H. Nitze	January 29, 1961 - November 29, 1963	Robert S. McNamara	John F. Kennedy Lyndon Johnson
William P. Bundy	November 29, 1963 - March 14, 1964	Robert S. McNamara	Lyndon Johnson
John T. McNaughton	July 1, 1964 - July 19, 1967	Robert S. McNamara	Lyndon Johnson
Paul C. Warnke	August 1, 1967 - February 15, 1969	Robert S. McNamara Clark M. Clifford Melvin R. Laird	Lyndon Johnson Richard Nixon
G. Warren Nutter	March 4, 1969 - January 30, 1973	Melvin R. Laird Elliot L. Richardson	Richard Nixon
Lawrence Eagleburger (Acting)	January 31, 1973 - May 10, 1973	Elliot L. Richardson	Richard Nixon
Robert C. Hill	May 11, 1973 - January 5, 1974	Elliot L. Richardson James R. Schlesinger	Richard Nixon
Vice Adm. Ray Peet (Acting)	January 6, 1974 - April 1, 1974	James R. Schlesinger	Richard Nixon
Amos A. Jordan (Acting)	April 2, 1974 - June 4, 1974	James R. Schlesinger	Richard Nixon
Robert Ellsworth	June 5, 1974 - December 22, 1975	James R. Schlesinger Donald H. Rumsfeld	Richard Nixon Gerald Ford
Amos A. Jordan (Acting)	December 23, 1975 - May 5, 1976	Donald H. Rumsfeld	Gerald Ford
Eugene V. McAuliffe	May 6, 1976 - April 1, 1977	Donald H. Rumsfeld Harold Brown	Gerald Ford Jimmy Carter
David E. McGiffert	April 4, 1977 - January 20, 1981	Harold Brown	Jimmy Carter
Francis J. West, Jr.	April 4, 1981 - April 1, 1983	Caspar W. Weinberger	Ronald Reagan
Richard L. Armitage	April 2, 1983 - June 5, 1983 (Acting) June 5, 1983 - June 5, 1989	Caspar W. Weinberger Frank C. Carlucci III William H. Taft IV (Acting) Richard B. Cheney	Ronald Reagan George H. W. Bush
Henry S. Rowen	June 26, 1989 - July 31, 1991	Richard B. Cheney	George H. W. Bush
James R. Lilley	December 12, 1991 - January 20, 1993	Richard B. Cheney	George H. W. Bush
Assistant Secretary of Defense (Regional Security Affairs)
Charles W. Freeman, Jr.	July 6, 1993 - April 11, 1994	Leslie Aspin, Jr. William J. Perry	William Clinton
Assistant Secretary of Defense (International Security Affairs)
Charles W. Freeman, Jr.	April 11, 1994 - September 14, 1994	William J. Perry	William Clinton
Joseph S. Nye, Jr.	September 15, 1994 - December 16, 1995	William J. Perry	William Clinton
Franklin D. Kramer	March 29, 1996 - February 16, 2001	William J. Perry William S. Cohen Donald H. Rumsfeld	William Clinton George W. Bush
Peter W. Rodman^[3]	July 16, 2001 - March 2, 2007	Donald H. Rumsfeld Robert M. Gates	George W. Bush
Mary Beth Long^[4]	March 3, 2007 - December 21, 2007 (Acting) December 21, 2007 - January 2009	Robert M. Gates	George W. Bush
Alexander R. Vershbow	April 3, 2009 -	Robert M. Gates	Barack Obama

Structure

This office can trace its roots back to the early days of the modern national security establishment. It was created in 1949, two years after the National Security Act established the Department of Defense.

The ASD(ISA) is supported by four Deputy Assistant Secretaries (DASDs), each with coverage of a different region. The DASDs manage "principal directors" who in turn oversee "country directors" with more narrow geographic portfolios:

DASD Middle East
- Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait
- Israel, Palestine
- Egypt, Jordan
- Iraq
- Iran, Syria, Lebanon
- Oman, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Yemen
DASD Africa
DASD Europe & Nato
DASD Russia, Ukraine & Eurasia

The ASD(ISA) also oversees the DoD representative in the U.S. Mission to NATO, and the DoD representative to the OSCE

DASDs are appointed by the Secretary of Defense. Some are appointed from civilian life, while others are career defense officials. Once at the DASD level, the latter are considered a part of the DoD Senior Executive Service.

The ASD(ISA) is also supported by a Principal Deputy, or PDASD, who helps manage the day-to-day operations of the four DASDs and the NATO rep.

Principal Deputy Assistant Secretaries for International Security Affairs

Name	Tenure	ASD(ISA) Served Under	USD(P) Served Under	SecDef(s) Served Under	President(s) Served Under
Joseph McMillan^[5]	May 2009 -	Alexander R. Vershbow	Michele Flournoy	Robert M. Gates	Barack Obama

Deputy Assistant Secretaries of Defense Reporting to the ASD(ISA)

The list below details the current DASDs in this office.

Name	Tenure	ASD(ISA) Served Under	USD(P) Served Under	SecDef(s) Served Under	President(s) Served Under
Active Offices
DASD(ISA), Middle East
Colin Kahl^[6]	April 2009 -	Alexander R. Vershbow	Michele Flournoy	Robert M. Gates	Barack Obama
DASD(ISA), Africa
Vicki Huddleston^[7]	June 2009 -	Alexander R. Vershbow	Michele Flournoy	Robert M. Gates	Barack Obama
DASD(ISA), Europe & NATO
James Townsend Jr.^[6]	April 2009 -	Alexander R. Vershbow	Michele Flournoy	Robert M. Gates	Barack Obama
DASD(ISA), Russia, Ukraine & Eurasia
Celeste A. Wallander^[8]	June 2009 -	Alexander R. Vershbow	Michele Flournoy	Robert M. Gates	Barack Obama

References

^ ^a ^b "Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs," http://policy.defense.gov/isa/
^ "Department of Defense Key Officials". Historical Office, OSD. 2004. http://osdhistory.defense.gov/docs/DOD%20Key%20Officials%201947-2004.pdf. Retrieved 2011-02-01.
^ "Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs". Policy.defense.gov. http://policy.defense.gov/isa/history.aspx. Retrieved 2011-09-17.
^ John Pike. "DoD News: Mary Beth Long Sworn in as Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs". Globalsecurity.org. http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/news/2008/01/mil-080114-dod01.htm. Retrieved 2011-09-17.
^ "Senior Executive Service Appointments". DoD Public Affairs. 2009-05-06. http://www.defense.gov/releases/release.aspx?releaseid=12583. Retrieved 2011-08-29.
^ ^a ^b "Senior Executive Service Appointments". DoD Public Affairs. 2009-04-01. http://www.defense.gov/releases/release.aspx?releaseid=12583. Retrieved 2011-08-29.
^ "Vicki Huddleston profile". Brookings Institution. http://www.brookings.edu/experts/huddlestonv.aspx. Retrieved 2011-08-29.
^ "Senior Executive Service Appointments And Reassignments". DoD Public Affairs. 2009-06-09. http://www.defense.gov/releases/release.aspx?releaseid=12735. Retrieved 2011-08-29.