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In 1947 Congress established a civilian Secretary of Defense with cabinet rank that created a new overreaching department called the National Military Establishment.
This establishment created a new service the Air Force with its own departments and converted the War Department to the Department of the Army. Congress also put the three services under the Secretary’s direct control.
To further consolidate authority, a 1949 amendment to the Act established the agency as an executive department, renamed it the Department of Defense (DOD) and withdrew cabinet level status for the three Service secretaries.
The DOD is the nation’s largest employer, with 1.4 million men and women on active duty, 654,000 civilians and another 1.2 million volunteers serving in the Guard and Reserve. The DOD also support 2.0 million retirees and families that are receiving benefits.
Active Duty strength: 1,381,497
Civilian employees: 654,147
Reserves: 1,197,776
Retired: 1,954,973
The DOD chief executive officer is the President of the United States. The President, along with the Secretary of Defense and the National Security Council, determine the security needs of the nation, and then take courses of action to ensure that they are met. The President, in his constitutional role as commander-in-chief of the armed forces, is the senior military authority in the nation and as such is ultimately responsible for the protection of the United States from all enemies, foreign and domestic.
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