US Defense: Some Intriguing Historical Info

The United States Department of Defense (DoD) is the federal department in charge of coordinating and supervising all agencies directly involved with national security and military matters. The DoD is one of the largest tenants at The Pentagon and has three chief sub-departments, the Department of the Army, the Department of the Air Forceand the Department of the Navy.

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Some other DOD groups include the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), the Missile Defense Agency, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the Pentagon Force Protection Agency (PFPA), the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) and the famed National Security Agency (NSA).

In terms of the department’s history, it was established based on some specific plans drawn up by the Joint Chiefs of Staff and on 19 December 1945, President Harry S. Truman proposed the creation of a brand new unified Department of National Defense. The idea was mulled over and was not made law until 1947.

On July 26, 1947, President Truman finalized the National Security Act of 1947 which founded the National Military Establishment which would begin active operations in September, 1947. The Establishment had the unfortunate abbreviation NME which resembles ‘enemy’ and it was, in 1949, baptized the DoD.

Prior to the creation of the DoD, US armed forces were divided into various departments which lacked any real central authority. The Marine Corps remained as a separate service under the Naval Department while the Coast Guard remained under the auspices of the Treasury Department.

The Department of Defense’s budget was about $787 billion in 2007 though this figure does not include tens of billions more in supplementary spending on things like nuclear weapons tests.

During time of war, the Department has authority over the Coast Guard. Under the terms of the US Code, the Coast Guard is always considered one of the five branches of the US armed services. During times of proper war the Coast Guard operates as a section of the Navy even though the Coast Guard has not been under the full control of Navy since World War 2.

The official command structure of the Department is determined by the Goldwater-Nichols Act of 1986, made law by President Ronald Reagan in October, 1986. The Act altered the command of the US military and it introduced the most significant changes to the Department since it was established.

Under the terms of the Act, the command passes from the US President, through the Secretary of Defense, to the commanders of all military forces (COCOM). The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs is chiefly responsible for readiness of the US military and behaves as the President’s chief military adviser while remaining outside of the chain of command.