United States Department of Defense
Saddling Posterity with Debt
“We believe–or we act as if we believed–that although an individual father cannot alienate the labor of his son, the aggregate body of fathers may alienate the labor of all their sons, of their posterity, in the aggregate, and oblige them to pay for all the enterprises, just or unjust, profitable or ruinous, into which our vices, our passions or our personal interests may lead us. But I trust that this proposition needs only to be looked at by an American to be seen in its true point of view, and that we shall all consider ourselves unauthorized to saddle posterity with our debts, and morally bound to pay them ourselves; and consequently within what may be deemed the period of a generation, or the life of the majority.”
~Thomas Jefferson to John Wayles Eppes, 1813
US Debt Clock
United States Department of Defense
United States Department of Defense
http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/fy2010/assets/mil.pdf
DOD 101: An Introductory Overview of The Department of Defense
http://www.defense.gov/pubs/dod101/
Department of Defense – $663.7 billion+$7.4 billion from the Recovery Act
The Department of Defense receives the lion’s share of the Federal Budget to be used both internally and externally. $533.7 billion is requested for specific programs with another $50-100 billion earmarked should the Department of Defense need it. The budget will cover the draw down of US troops from Iraq, the aid of struggling states like Pakistan and the funding of programs that help to monitor cyber, biological and nuclear threats. Overall, a large amount of funds are not detailed
Major Budget Allocations for the Department of Defense
Military Operations
- Military Operations in Iraq and Afghanistan – $130 billion
- Money that currently has no allocation but is budgeted should the Department of Defense need it – $50 billion
Soldiers
- Pay for service members that will keep pace with or exceed private sector jobs – exact amount not provided
- Expansion of military retired pay and Veterans Disability Compensation to all retirees receiving disability retired pay – exact amount not provided
- Expansion on integrated mental health professionals with deployed unites – amount not provided
- Improved medical care and housing for Wounded, Ill and Injured Servicemembers – amount not provided
- Quality of life improvements for American Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines include modernization of barracks – amount not provided
http://www.onlineforextrading.com/blog/federal-budget-broken-down/
“…Department of Defense
The mission of the Department of Defense (DOD) is to provide the military forces needed to deter war and to protect the security of our country. The department’s headquarters is at the Pentagon.
The DOD consists of the Departments of the Army, Navy, and Air Force, as well as many agencies, offices, and commands, including the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Pentagon Force Protection Agency, the National Security Agency, and the Defense Intelligence Agency. The DOD occupies the vast majority of the Pentagon building in Arlington, VA.
The Department of Defense is the largest government agency, with more than 1.3 million men and women on active duty, nearly 700,000 civilian personnel, and 1.1 million citizens who serve in the National Guard and Reserve forces. Together, the military and civilian arms of DOD protect national interests through war-fighting, providing humanitarian aid, and performing peacekeeping and disaster relief services. …”
http://www.whitehouse.gov/our-government/executive-branch
United States Department of Defense
“…The United States Department of Defense (DOD or DoD) is the federal department charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government relating directly to national security and the military. The organization and functions of the DOD are set forth in Title 10 of the United States Code.
The DOD is the major tenant of The Pentagon building near Washington, D.C., and has three major components– the Department of the Army, the Department of the Navy, and the Department of the Air Force. Among the many DOD agencies are the Missile Defense Agency, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the Pentagon Force Protection Agency (PFPA), the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), and the National Security Agency (NSA). The department also operates several joint service schools, including the National War College.
History
During 1945, specific plans for the proposed DoD were put forth by the Army, the Navy, and the Joint Chiefs of Staff. In a special message to Congress on 19 December 1945, President Harry Truman proposed creation of a unified Department of National Defense. A proposal went to Congress in April 1946, but was held up by the Naval Affairs Committee hearings in July 1946, which raised 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.
DoD was created in 1947 as a national military establishment with a single secretary as its head to preside over the former Department of War (founded in 1789) and Department of the Navy (founded in 1798; formerly the Board of Admiralty, founded in 1780). The Department of the Air Force was also created as a new service at the same time (it had been part of the War Department as the United States Army Air Force), and made part of DoD. DoD was created in order to reduce interservice rivalry which was believed to have reduced military effectiveness during World War II.
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 Senate confirmed 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” (abbreviated as DOD or DoD) on August 10, 1949; in addition, the Secretary of Defense was given greater authority over three of the branches of the military (Army, Navy, and Air Force). Prior to the creation of the National Military Establishment / Department of Defense, the Armed Forces of the United States were separated into different cabinet-level departments without much central authority. The Marine Corps remained as a separate service under the Department of the Navy, and the Coast Guard remained in the Department of the Treasury, ready to be shifted to the Navy Department during time of declared war (as it was in both world wars).
The Department includes the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, as well as non-combat agencies such as the National Security Agency and the Defense Intelligence Agency, including the NORAD base in Colorado Springs. The DoD’s annual budget was roughly $786 billion in 2007.[2] This figure does not include tens of billions more in supplemental expenditures allotted by Congress throughout the year, particularly for the war in Iraq. It also does not include expenditures by the Department of Energy on nuclear weapons design and testing.
Civilian control over matters other than operations is exercised through the three service departments, the Department of the Army, the Department of the Navy (which includes the Marine Corps), and the Department of the Air Force. Each is led by a service secretary, who are below Cabinet rank.
In wartime, the Department of Defense has authority over the Coast Guard; in peacetime, that agency is under the control of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Prior to the creation of DHS, the Coast Guard was under the control of the Department of Transportation and earlier under the Department of the Treasury. According to the U.S. Code, the Coast Guard is at all times considered one of the five armed services of the United States. During times of declared war (or by Congressional direction), the Coast Guard operates as a part of the Navy; the service has not been under the auspices of Navy since World War II, but members have served in the undeclared wars and conflicts since then while the service remained in its peacetime department.
The Pentagon, in Arlington County, Virginia, across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C., is the headquarters of the Department of Defense. The Department of Defense is protected by the Pentagon Force Protection Agency which ensures law enforcement and security for The Pentagon and various other jurisdictions throughout the National Capital Region (NCR).
Command structure
The President of the United States is the Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. military, though in that position he is a civilian and not a member of the military.
The command structure of the Department of Defense is defined by the Goldwater-Nichols Act of 1986 (PL 99-433), signed into law by President Ronald Reagan on 1 October 1986. The Act reworked the command structure of the United States military, introducing the most sweeping changes to the Department since it was established in the National Security Act of 1947. Under the act, the chain of command runs from the President of the United States, through the Secretary of Defense, to the combatant commanders (COCOM) who command all military forces within their area of responsibility. The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the service Chiefs of Staff are responsible for 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. Each service is responsible for organizing, training and equipping military units for the commanders of the various Unified Combatant Commands.
National Command organizational chart
Components
United States Secretary of Defense
- United States Deputy Secretary of Defense
- Office of the Secretary of Defense
- Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization
- Defense Policy Board Advisory Committee
- Office of Net Assessment
- Pentagon Force Protection Agency
- Office of General Counsel
- Defense Legal Services Agency
- Office of Inspector General
- Defense Criminal Investigative Service
- Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence
- Defense Intelligence Agency
- Defense Security Service
- Counterintelligence Field Activity
- National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency
- National Reconnaissance Office
- National Security Agency
- Under Secretary of Defense for Policy
- Defense Security Cooperation Agency
- Defense Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel Office
- Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics
- Defense Technical Information Center
- Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
- Missile Defense Agency
- Defense Contract Management Agency
- Defense Logistics Agency
- Defense Threat Reduction Agency
- Office of Economic Adjustment
- Defense Acquisition University
- Business Transformation Agency
- Operational Test and Evaluation Directorate (DOT&E)
- Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness
- Defense Commissary Agency
- Defense Human Resources Activity
- Department of Defense Education Activity
- Department of Defense Dependents Schools
- Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences
- Defense Equal Opportunity Management Institute
- Office of the Chancellor for Education and Professional Development
- Under Secretary of Defense Comptroller
- Defense Contract Audit Agency
- Defense Finance and Accounting Service
- Director, Program Analysis and Evaluation
- Assistant Secretary of Defense for Networks and Information Integration
- Defense Information Systems Agency
- Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs
- Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, Internal Communications
- Washington Headquarters Services
- Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs
- Military Health System[2]
- TRICARE Management Activity[3]
- Military Health System[2]
- Office of the Secretary of Defense
- Military Departments
- United States Secretary of the Army
- Department of the Army including the U.S. Army
- United States Army Corps of Engineers
- United States Secretary of the Navy
- United States Department of the Navy including the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps
- United States Secretary of the Air Force
- Department of the Air Force including the U.S. Air Force
- United States Secretary of the Army
- Joint Chiefs of Staff
| Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff | Adm. Michael G. Mullen (USN) |
| Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff | Gen. James E. Cartwright (USMC) |
| Chief of Staff of the United States Army | Gen. George W. Casey, Jr. (USA) |
| Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force | Gen. Norton A. Schwartz (USAF) |
| Chief of Naval Operations | Adm. Gary Roughead (USN) |
| Commandant of the Marine Corps | Gen. James T. Conway (USMC) |
The United States Naval Observatory falls under the Chief of Naval Operations. In 2003, the National Communications System was moved to the Department of Homeland Security, but only for executive purposes. The National Communications System still centralizes its activities within the Department of Defense, since the human resources required by NCS (example: Military Departments) still reside within the Department of Defense, or for retention of practical maintenance.
Unified Combatant Commands
There are ten Unified Combatant Commands; six regional and four functional. United States Africa Command became initially operational in October 2007.
| Command | Commander | Home Base | Area of Responsibility |
| United States Northern Command (NORTHCOM) | General Victor E. Renuart Jr. (USAF) (also Chief of NORAD) | Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado | North American homeland defense and coordinating homeland security with civilian forces. |
| United States Central Command (CENTCOM), | General David H. Petraeus (USA) | MacDill Air Force Base, Florida | Egypt through the Persian Gulf region, into Central Asia; handing over responsibility of Horn of Africa to AFRICOM. |
| United States European Command (EUCOM) | General John Craddock (USA) (also Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) | SHAPE (Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe), Belgium (USEUCOM HQ in Stuttgart, Germany) | Europe, including Turkey, and Israel |
| United States Pacific Command (PACOM) | Admiral Timothy J. Keating (USN) | Camp H. M. Smith, Oahu, Hawaii | The Asia-Pacific region including Hawaii. |
| United States Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) | Admiral James Stavridis (USN) | Miami, Florida | South, Central America and the surrounding waters |
| United States Africa Command (AFRICOM) | General William E. Ward (USA) | Kelley Barracks, Stuttgart, Germany for now; to be relocated to African continent | Africa excluding Egypt |
| U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM) | Admiral Eric T. Olson (USN) | MacDill Air Force Base, Florida | Provides special operations for the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps. |
| U.S. Joint Forces Command (JFCOM) | General James Mattis (USMC) | Naval Support Activity Headquarters (Norfolk) and Suffolk, Virginia | Supports other commands as a joint force provider. |
| United States Strategic Command (STRATCOM) | General Kevin P. Chilton (USAF) | Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska | Covers the strategic deterrent force and coordinates the use of space assets. |
| United States Transportation Command (TRANSCOM) | General Duncan J. McNabb (USAF) | Scott Air Force Base, Illinois | Covers global mobility of all military assets for all regional commands. |
The Geographic Commands |
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In 2007, a new geographical command for Africa was authorized. This proposed significant changes to the areas of responsibility for other adjacent geographical commands as shown in the accompanying graphic. …”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Department_of_Defense
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