United States. Department of Defense

Variant names
Dates:
Establishment 1947-09-18
Americans

History notes:

Proposals to coordinate the activities of the military services were initially considered by U.S. 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 U.S. 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 had the unfortunate abbreviation 'NME' (the obvious pronunciation being "enemy"), and was renamed the "Department of Defense" on August 10, 1949; in addition, the secretary was given greater authority over the military departments of the Army, Navy, and Air Force. The Department 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), and the newly created Department of the Air Force. The Department was formed in order to reduce interservice rivalry which was believed to have reduced military effectiveness during World War. The command structure of the Department of Defense has undergone several revisions, most recently 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 unified combatant commanders. The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the several Chiefs of Staff are responsible for the readiness of the U.S. military and serve as the President's military advisers, but are not in the chain of command. The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is by law the highest ranking military officer in the United States.

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