The Department of Defense of the United States of America is the executive authority in the country. It is in charge of matters of national security, coordination of political decisions in the field of protection, as well as the management of these affairs. The head of the department is the US Secretary of Defense. What are his duties and how is the commander in chief of the Pentagon appointed?
History of the Ministry
The department was established in the summer of 1947, eventually uniting all the country's military units under one roof. After the end of the Second World War in the United States, a competitive struggle began between various military forces to attract investment and for the right to be called the best. The Ministry of Defense was instructed to stop this fight and coordinate all actions together.
This competition manifested itself primarily in the policy of the first head of the department - D. Forrestal. He, who previously commanded the naval forces, insisted on large injections into the construction of aircraft carriers, which continued the disputes, but already within the organization.
In the suburbs of WashingtonArlington is the headquarters of the ministry. Everyone recognizes it by the shape of the pentagon, from which the name comes from - the Pentagon.
Features of taking office
The US Secretary of Defense (photos are in the article) is appointed by the President of the country, while this candidacy can take office only after the approval of the Senate. There is also a law on the basis of which it is possible to start the duties of a minister only seven years after serving in the Armed Forces of the country.
Established in 1947, James Forrestal became the first minister under the presidency of Harry Truman.
This post is very significant for the country as a whole. According to the order of succession to office, in the event of a presidential incapacity, the US Secretary of Defense is the sixth person in the state. In mid-February 2015, Ashton Carter was appointed to this post. He is a Republican, like Barack Obama.
The Ministry is headquartered in the Pentagon.
Departments under the Minister
The following deputies are directly subordinate to Ashton Carter:
- deputy minister of defense of the first level;
- deputy secretary of defense for technical support;
- Deputy Minister of Defense for Military Policy;
- Deputy Secretary of Defense for Personnel, Head of Intelligence.
All of them are designed to take care of the protection of the state. Absolutely all US Deputy Secretary of Defense must be approved by the Senate. America has a governing bodyarmed forces - the Joint Committee of Staff Chiefs. He also reports directly to the minister and is composed of six commanders in chief.
The second largest person in the department is the first deputy minister. Today this position is held by Robert Work. By law, he has the right to act as Secretary of Defense of the United States. Along with Ashton Carter, he solves problems of any level, is his right hand.
Authorized National Command
The US Secretary of Defense, together with the current president of the country, constitute an authorized national command. This is the control of the so-called nuclear button. At the same time, the use of strategic weapons can be approved not by one of them, but only by both at the same time. No one else in the government can do this.
Thus, a person in this position has a serious security obligation not only in their own country, but throughout the world.
Biography of Ashton Carter
Today, Ashton Carter is the US Secretary of Defense. His biography, oddly enough, is not connected either with military service or with work in NATO troops.
Ashton Carter originally studied physics at Yale University, where he also received a bachelor's degree in history. He then taught at Harvard and Stanford and advised Goldman Sachs on policy issues.
After he received the post of Assistant Secretary of Defense for Foreign Policy Issues and Problems. This post he got in the administration of BillClinton and served there from 1993 to 1995. In 2009, under President Obama, Carter returned to the same Department as Undersecretary for Logistics and Procurement, and was promoted to First Undersecretary in 2011.
Ashton Carter is now 61 and married to Stephanie Carter.
US Defense Ministers
Since 1947, a large number of bosses have changed in the US Department of Defense. Each of them tried to contribute to the development of the army. Today, quite objectively, the US armed forces can be considered the most powerful army on the planet. All this thanks to the incredible budget and financial injections. Most experts tend to think that this pomposity can only serve as an instrument of pressure on other states.
US Secretaries of Defense (listed below) often developed strategies and plans to reform the military. The first Secretary of Defense was James Forrestal. He is known for pushing for a large number of aircraft carriers. However, in his post, he did not meet with support in this matter. Some of his colleagues believed that his passion for the sea was preserved from his time in command of the naval forces. His death to this day raises many questions, but the official version is suicide. Below is the list of ministers of the department:
- James Forrestal (from 1947 to 1949);
- Louis Arthur Johnson (1949 to 1950);
- George Marshall (1950 to 1951);
- Robert Lovett (from 1951 to 1953);
- Charles Wilson(from 1953 to 1957);
- Neil McElroy (from 1957 to 1959);
- Thomas Gates (1959 to 1961);
- Robert McNamara (from 1961 to 1968);
- Clark Clifford (1968 to 1969);
- Melvin Laird (1969 to 1973);
- Eliot Richardson (about four months in 1973);
- James Schlesinger (1973 to 1975);
- Donald Rumsfeld (1975 to 1977);
- Harold Brown (from 1977 to 1981);
- Caspar Weinberger (1981 to 1987);
- Frank Carluchi (from 1987 to 1989);
- Richard Cheney (1989 to 1993);
- Les Espin (1993 to 1994);
- William Parry (from 1994 to 1997);
- William Cohen (1997 to 2001);
- Donald Rumsfeld (2001 to 2006);
- Robert Geits (from 2006 to 2011);
- Leon Paneta (from 2011 to 2013);
- Chuck Heigl (2013 to 2015);
- Ashton Carter (2015 to present).
Today's head of the Pentagon is the twenty-fifth in a row.
Statements of the last Minister of Defense
As early as 2014, the deterioration of relations between the US and Russia is inevitable. Ashton Carter (U. S. Secretary of Defense), who replaced Chuck Hagle, continued the policy of containment of Russia in economic and political terms.
He allows himself harsh statements in relation to opponents, this also applies to his direct deputies. The stumbling block in 2014 was the situation in Ukraine, where, after a change of power, the territory of Crimea was ceded to Russia through pressure, and a confrontation began in the South-East of the country,which has never been unraveled. Another problem between the US and Russia is the situation in Syria.
According to the statement of the head of the Pentagon, which he made in August 2015 on CNN, Russia is behaving as an adversary of the United States, which was not the case before. Based on this, he concluded that America has an obligation to contain the Russian Federation economically.
Conflicts and Performance Evaluation
The conflict in the Syrian Arab Republic, which began long before E. Carter took office, served as another problem affecting the interests of the two countries. The terrorist threat to the whole world, which arose in the territories of fragmented Syria and Iraq under the name ISIS (the organization is legally prohibited in Russia), led to the fact that first the United States and its allies began bombing these territories, and then Russia joined in with the official support of the Syrian authorities.
On this issue, there are different opinions in the media, which are expressed by the President of Russia V. V. Putin and US Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter.
Military experts from various sides have repeatedly expressed the opinion that with serious funding and the presence of a large number of army units, the US Department of Defense is not able to smoothly command the armed forces. This was evident in earlier military operations. In 1986, the Goldwater-Nichols Act was passed, designed to redistribute duties and bring all troops under one command. This fact greatly strengthened the army.
Nevertheless, the departments and the headquarters command to this daylearn to work together. This is not so easy given the large number of army units and the complex structure of the ministry itself.
Declaring Russia a threat
Perhaps the most pressing issue was the announcement of Russia as the main threat to the United States. This statement was made by the Deputy head of the Pentagon, Joseph Dunford, at Congress in July 2015. Earlier, US President Barack Obama spoke in a similar vein. The growth of military power, the presence of nuclear weapons are serious aspects, but the Pentagon could not forgive Russia for disagreeing with America's policy. The crisis has escalated due to the incredible information pressure from both Russia and the United States in the world.
In October 2015, the head of the US Air Force made similar statements. Deborah Lee James said that, being a nuclear power, Russia is considered the main threat to the country. In 2016, Barack Obama added China to this list.
US Secretary of Defense is a very serious position. Not only politics on one continent, but also in the whole world depends on this person. His statements are listened to and most of all they are waiting for a thaw in the relations of world leaders.
