United States Deputy Secretary of Defense

Deputy Secretary of Defense of the United States of America

Seal of the Department of Defense

Flag of the Deputy Secretary of Defense
Incumbent
Patrick M. Shanahan
since July 19, 2017
U.S. Department of Defense
Office of the Secretary of Defense
Style Mister Deputy Secretary
The Honorable
(formal address in writing)
Reports to Secretary of Defense
Seat The Pentagon, Arlington County, Virginia, U.S.
Appointer The President
with the advice and consent of the Senate
Term length No fixed term
Constituting instrument 10 U.S.C. § 132
Inaugural holder Stephen Early[1]
Formation 1949
see article for further dates[1]
Succession 1st in SecDef succession
Salary Executive Schedule, Level II[2]
Website defense.gov

The Deputy Secretary of Defense (acronym: DEPSECDEF) is a statutory office (10 U.S.C. § 132) and the second-highest-ranking official in the Department of Defense of the United States of America.

The Deputy Secretary is the principal civilian deputy to the Secretary of Defense, and is appointed by the President, with the advice and consent of the Senate. The Deputy Secretary, by statute, is designated as the DoD Chief Management Officer and must be a civilian, at least seven years removed from service as a commissioned officer on active-duty at the date of appointment.[3]

The Deputy Secretary of Defense position is currently held by Patrick M. Shanahan.[4]

History

Public Law 81-36, April 2, 1949, originally established this position as the Under Secretary of Defense, however Public Law 81-2 16, August 10, 1949, a.k.a. the 1949 Amendments to the National Security Act of 1947, changed the title to Deputy Secretary of Defense. Former Assistant to President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Stephen Early, became the first officer holder when he was sworn-in on May 2, 1949.[1]

Public Law 92-596, October 27, 1972, established a Second Deputy Secretary of Defense position, with both deputies performing duties as prescribed by the Secretary of Defense. The second deputy position was not filled until December 1975. Robert F. Ellsworth, serving from December 23, 1975, until January 10, 1977, was the only one to ever hold that office. Public Law 95-140, October 21, 1977, established two Under Secretaries of Defense and abolished the second deputy position.[1]

Responsibilities

By delegation, the Deputy Secretary of Defense has full power and authority to act for the Secretary of Defense and to exercise the powers of the Secretary of Defense on any and all matters for which the Secretary is authorized to act pursuant to statute or executive order.[1] The Deputy Secretary is first in the line of succession to the office of Secretary of Defense.

The typical role of the Deputy Secretary of Defense is to oversee the day-to-day business and lead the internal management processes of the $500-billion-plus Department of Defense budget, that is as its chief operating officer and chief management officer; while the Secretary of Defense as the chief executive officer focuses on the big issues of the day, ongoing military operations, high-profile congressional hearings, attending meetings of the National Security Council, and directly advising the President on defense issues.

The Deputy Secretary, among the office's many responsibilities, chairs the Senior Level Review Group (SLRG), before 2005 known as Defense Resources Board (DRB), which provides department-wide budgetary allocation recommendations to the Secretary and the President. Traditionally, the Deputy Secretary has been the civilian official guiding the process of the Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR).

The Deputy Secretary of Defense chairs the Special Access Program Oversight Committee (SAPOC), which has oversight responsibilities and provides recommendations with respect to changes in status of the Department's Special Access Programs, for either the Deputy Secretary Defense or the Secretary of Defense to make.

List of Deputy Secretaries of Defense

No. Image Name Term of Office Secretaries of Defense serving under: President appointed by:
Began Ended Days of Service
1 Stephen Early May 2, 1949
August 10, 1949[1]		 August 9, 1949[lower-alpha 1]
September 30, 1950[lower-alpha 2][1]		 516 Louis A. Johnson
George Marshall		 Harry S. Truman
2 Robert A. Lovett October 4, 1950 September 16, 1951 316 George Marshall
3 William Chapman Foster September 24, 1951 January 20, 1953 484 Robert A. Lovett
4 Roger M. Kyes February 2, 1953 May 1, 1954 453 Charles E. Wilson Dwight D. Eisenhower
5 Robert B. Anderson May 3, 1954 August 4, 1955 458
6 Reuben B. Robertson Jr. August 5, 1955 April 25, 1957 629
7 Donald A. Quarles May 1, 1957 May 8, 1959 737 Charles E. Wilson
Neil H. McElroy
8 Thomas S. Gates June 8, 1959 December 1, 1959 176 Neil H. McElroy
9 James H. Douglas Jr. December 11, 1959 January 24, 1961 410 Thomas S. Gates
Robert McNamara
10 Roswell Gilpatric January 24, 1961 January 20, 1964 1091 Robert McNamara John F. Kennedy
11 Cyrus Vance January 28, 1964 June 30, 1967 1249 Lyndon B. Johnson
12 Paul Nitze July 1, 1967 January 20, 1969 569 Robert McNamara
Clark Clifford
13 David Packard January 24, 1969 December 13, 1971 1053 Melvin R. Laird Richard Nixon
14 Kenneth Rush February 23, 1972 January 29, 1973 341
15 William P. Clements, Jr. January 30, 1973 January 20, 1977 1451 Elliot Richardson
James R. Schlesinger
Donald Rumsfeld
16 Charles Duncan Jr. January 31, 1977 July 26, 1979 906 Harold Brown Jimmy Carter
17 W. Graham Claytor Jr. August 24, 1979 January 16, 1981 511
18 Frank Carlucci February 4, 1981 December 31, 1982 695 Caspar Weinberger Ronald Reagan
19 W. Paul Thayer January 12, 1983 January 4, 1984 357
20 William Howard Taft IV February 3, 1984 April 22, 1989 1905 Caspar Weinberger
Frank Carlucci
Dick Cheney
21 Donald J. Atwood Jr. April 24, 1989 January 20, 1993 1367 Dick Cheney George H. W. Bush
22 William J. Perry March 5, 1993 February 3, 1994 335 Les Aspin Bill Clinton
23 John M. Deutch March 11, 1994 May 10, 1995 425 William J. Perry
24 John P. White June 22, 1995 July 15, 1997 754 William J. Perry
William Cohen
25 John J. Hamre July 29, 1997 March 31, 2000 976 William Cohen
26 Rudy de Leon March 31, 2000[5] March 1, 2001[5] 335 William Cohen
Donald Rumsfeld
27 Paul Wolfowitz March 2, 2001[6] May 13, 2005[6] 1533 Donald Rumsfeld George W. Bush
28 Gordon R. England May 13, 2005
January 4, 2006[6]		 January 3, 2006[lower-alpha 3]
February 11, 2009[6]		 236
1134		 Donald Rumsfeld
Robert Gates
29 William J. Lynn III February 12, 2009[6] October 5, 2011[6] 965 Robert Gates
Leon Panetta		 Barack Obama
30 Ash Carter October 6, 2011[6] December 4, 2013[6] 789 Leon Panetta
Chuck Hagel
Acting Christine Fox December 5, 2013[6] May 1, 2014[6] 149 Chuck Hagel
31 Robert O. Work May 1, 2014 July 14, 2017 1170 Chuck Hagel
Ashton Carter
James Mattis
32 Patrick M. Shanahan July 19, 2017 38 James Mattis Donald Trump

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ As "Under Secretary of Defense"
  2. ↑ As "Deputy Secretary of Defense"
  3. ↑ Served as Acting Deputy Secretary of Defense

References

Citations

Sources

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