Office of the Secretary of Defense

Office of the Secretary of Defense
OSD
	OSD Identification Badge
Agency overview
Formed	1947
Jurisdiction	General management and oversight of the Department of Defense components
Headquarters	Pentagon
Parent agency	Department of Defense
Website	defense.gov/osd

The Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) is a headquarters-level staff of the United States Department of Defense. It is the principal civilian staff element of the U.S. Secretary of Defense, and it assists the Secretary in carrying out authority, direction and control of the Department of Defense in the exercise of policy development, planning, resource management, fiscal, and program evaluation responsibilities. OSD (along with the Joint Staff) is the Secretary of Defense's support staff for managing the Department of Defense, and it corresponds to what the Executive Office of the President of the U.S. is to the U.S. president for managing the whole of the Executive branch of the federal government.

OSD includes the immediate offices of the Secretary (SECDEF) and the Deputy Secretary of Defense (DEPSECDEF), as well as the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering; Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment; Under Secretary of Defense for Policy; Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller); Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness; and Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence & Security. All of these positions are Presidential appointments which require U.S. Senate confirmation, as do each of their sole deputies.

Other positions include the Assistant Secretaries of Defense, Assistants to the Secretary of Defense, General Counsel, Director, Operational Test and Evaluation, Director of Administration and Management, and other staff offices that the Secretary establishes in order to assist in carrying out their assigned responsibilities.

Composition of OSD

The Secretary and Deputy Secretary manage several Under Secretaries each of whom in turn manage several Assistant Secretaries of Defense. There are also several special officers reporting directly to the Secretary of Defense.

Major elements of OSD (listed hierarchically):

Secretary of Defense (SecDef) and Deputy Secretary of Defense (DepSecDef)
- Special officers reporting directly to Secretary and Deputy
  - Executive Secretary of the Department of Defense (ExecSec)^[1]
  - General Counsel of the Department of Defense
  - Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Intelligence Oversight (ATSD(IO))
  - Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs (ATSD(PA))
  - Chief Information Officer (DoD CIO)^[2]
  - Senior Designated Officials of SECDEF-Empowered Cross Functional Teams
- Assistant Secretaries reporting directly to Secretary and Deputy
  - Assistant Secretary of Defense for Legislative Affairs (LA)
- Under Secretaries
  - Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller)/Chief Financial Officer (C/CFO)
  - Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment (A&S)
    - Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment
    - Assistant Secretary of Defense for Acquisition
    - Assistant Secretary of Defense for Sustainment
    - Assistant Secretary of Defense for Energy, Installations, and Environment
    - Assistant Secretary of Defense for Nuclear, Chemical & Biological Defense Programs (NCB)
    - Assistant Secretary of Defense for Industrial Base Policy (IBP)
  - Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security (I&S)
  - Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness (P&R)
    - Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness
    - Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs (HA)
    - Assistant Secretary of Defense for Manpower and Reserve Affairs (M&RA)
    - Assistant Secretary of Defense for Readiness
    - Executive Director, Defense Human Resources Activity (DHRA)
    - Executive Director, Force Resiliency^[3]
    - Executive Director, Personnel and Readiness
  - Under Secretary of Defense for Policy (P)
    - Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Policy
    - Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs (IPSA)
    - Assistant Secretary of Defense for Global Strategic Affairs (GSA)
    - Assistant Secretary of Defense for Homeland Defense and Hemispheric Affairs (HD&HA)
    - Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs (ISA)
    - Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations and Low Intensity Conflict (SO&LIC)
    - Assistant Secretary of Defense for Space Policy
    - Assistant Secretary of Defense for Strategy, Plans, and Capabilities
  - Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering
- Directors
  - Director of Administration and Management (DA&M)
  - Director of Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation (CAPE)
  - Director of Family Policy
  - Director of Force Transformation
  - Director of Net Assessment
  - Director of Corrosion Policy and Oversight^[4]
  - Director, Operational Test and Evaluation (DOT&E)
  - Director of Small Business Programs

Former elements

Major reorganizations

The composition of OSD is in a state of consistent flux, as Congress and DoD routinely create new offices, redesignate existing ones, and abolish others.^{[citation needed]}

Obama administration changes

During the Obama administration, Congress has sought to clarify the organization of OSD, and has worked with the department to move toward a standardization of official naming conventions. Many Defense officials, including the Deputy Secretary of Defense (DEPSECDEF), all five Under Secretaries of Defense (USDs), and all Assistant Secretaries of Defense (ASDs), as well as any officials specifically designated in U.S. Code^[5] have historically been considered Presidentially-Appointed, Senate-Confirmed (PAS) officials, in that the Senate must provide "advice and consent" for each individual before he or she can operate in an official capacity. In a March 2009 letter, Senator Carl Levin, Chairman of the Senate Armed Service Committee, wrote that the department was apparently exercising the authority to appoint other significant officials—termed Deputy Under Secretaries of Defense (DUSDs)—"without statutory authorization, without limitation, and without Senate confirmation." Levin was "concerned that the proliferation of DUSDs at multiple levels of the organization could muddy lines of authority and may not be in the best interest of the Department of Defense."^[6] Subsequent legislation established five Senate-confirmed Principal Deputies (i.e., "first assistants"), one for each Under Secretary of Defense.

The FY10 NDAA gave the Department of Defense until January 1, 2011, to eliminate or redesignate all other Deputy Under Secretaries who are not Principal Deputy Under Secretaries of Defense (PDUSDs). The FY11 NDAA extended this deadline to January 1, 2015. During that time, the Secretary may, at his or her discretion, appoint within OSD five additional non-PAS DUSDs beyond the five statutory PAS-PDUSDs. The USD(I) appears to be maintaining at least three non-PAS DUSDs, although they have been renamed. The USD (AT&L) has maintained the non-PAS DUSD for Installations and Environment, though the FY11 NDAA recommended merging this post with the newly created ASD for Operational Energy Plans and Programs. The USD(P) has maintained a non-PAS DUSD for Strategy, Plans, and Forces, though the FY11 NDAA recommended eliminating this position.

Nevertheless, a number of positions have been redesignated or eliminated during the Obama administration, pursuant to statutory language contained in the National Defense Authorization Acts of FY10^[7] and FY11.^[8] and subsequent internal DoD reports.^[9]

Obama Administration OSD Redesignations and Eliminations
Previous Office Title	New Office Title	Reports To	Requires Senate Confirmation?
New position	ASD for Acquisition	USD(AT&L)	Yes
DUSD for Industrial Policy	DASD for Manufacturing and Industrial Base	ASD for Acquisition	No
DUSD for Logistics and Material Readiness	ASD for Logistics and Material Readiness	USD(AT&L)	Yes
Director of Operational Energy Plans and Programs	ASD for Operational Energy Plans and Programs	USD(AT&L)	Yes
Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Nuclear and Chemical and Biological Defense Programs	ASD for Nuclear, Chemical, and Biological Defense Programs	USD(AT&L)	Yes
Director of Defense Research and Engineering	ASD for Research and Engineering (R&E)	USD(AT&L)	Yes
Director of Developmental Test and Evaluation	DASD for Developmental Test and Evaluation	ASD(R&E)	No
Director of Systems Engineering	DASD for Systems Engineering	ASD(R&E)	No
New position	ASD for Readiness and Force Management (R&FM)	USD(P&R)	Yes
DUSD for Civilian Personnel Policy	DASD for Civilian Personnel Policy	ASD for Readiness and Force Management (R&FM)	No
DUSD for Military Community and Family Policy	DASD for Military Community and Family Policy	ASD for Readiness and Force Management (R&FM)	No
DUSD for Military Personnel Policy	DASD for Military Personnel Policy	ASD for Readiness and Force Management (R&FM)	No
DUSD for Readiness	DASD for Readiness	ASD for Readiness and Force Management (R&FM)	No
DUSD for Wounded Warrior Care and Transition Policy	DASD for Wounded Warrior Care and Transition Policy	ASD for Readiness and Force Management (R&FM)	No
DUSD for Joint & Coalition Warfighter Support	DDI for Warfighter Support & Operations	Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence	No
DUSD for Technical Collection & Analysis and HUMINT, Counterintel & Security	DDI for Intelligence & Security	Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence	No
DUSD for Portfolio Programs & Resources	DDI for Military Intelligence Program & Planning	Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence	No
DUSD for Science and Technology	Eliminated	-	n/a
DUSD for Advanced Systems and Concepts	Eliminated	-	n/a

Director for Defense Intelligence = DDI, DUSD = Deputy Under Secretary of Defense, ASD = Assistant Secretary of Defense, DASD = Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense

References

^ "The Executive Secretary, Office of the Secretary of Defense". United States Department of Defense. Retrieved February 8, 2024. On behalf of the American Warfighter and Taxpayer, the Executive Secretariat supports the Secretary and Deputy Secretary of Defense decision making, selected DoD resource allocation, and immediate office management by ensuring accurate, concise, coordinated and timely tasking and processing of executive correspondence as the primary Department of Defense administrative liaison to the White House, National Security Council, and Interagency.
^ "Chief Information Officer". United States Department of Defense. Retrieved February 8, 2024. The DoD CIO is the principal staff assistant and senior advisor to the Secretary of Defense and Deputy Secretary of Defense for information technology (IT) (including national security systems and defense business systems), information resources management (IRM), and efficiencies. This means that DoD CIO is responsible for all matters relating to the DoD information enterprise, such as cybersecurity, communications, information systems, and more.
^ "Office of Force Resiliency". United States Department of Defense. Retrieved February 8, 2024. The mission of the Office of the Executive Director for Force Resiliency is to strengthen and promote the resiliency and readiness of the Total Force through the development of integrated policies, oversight, and synchronization of activities in the areas of diversity management and equal opportunity, personnel risk reduction, suicide prevention, sexual assault prevention and response, and collaborative efforts with the Department of Veterans' Affairs.
^ "10 USC 2228: Office of Corrosion Policy and Oversight". United States Code. United States House of Representatives. Retrieved February 8, 2024. The Director is responsible in the Department of Defense to the Secretary of Defense (after the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment) for the prevention and mitigation of corrosion of the military equipment and infrastructure of the Department of Defense.
^ Title X, Subtitle A, Part 1, Chapter 4, https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/usc_sup_01_10_10_A_20_I_30_4.html
^ ODAM (April 2010). "Revised Organizational Structure for the Office of the Secretary of Defense" (PDF). Report to Congress. Department of Defense. pp. 33–34. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 15, 2011. Retrieved August 30, 2011.
^ 111th Congress (October 28, 2009). "National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010" (PDF). Government Printing Office. H.R. 2647{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
^ Title IX, Subtitle A, Section 901, Part b, Section 4, http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-111hr6523enr/pdf/BILLS-111hr6523enr.pdf
^ ODAM (April 2010). "Revised Organizational Structure for the Office of the Secretary of Defense" (PDF). Report to Congress. Department of Defense. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 15, 2011. Retrieved August 30, 2011.