The Department of Defense
This department is headed by the Secretary of Defense who is a civilian appointee and a member of the president’s cabinet as well as the National Secretary Council. This appointee is always a civilian.
The principal deputies under the Secretary of Defense are the Deputy Secretary and the four Under Secretaries. There are eight Assistant Secretaries of Defense and other civilian officials at this level who also report the Secretary and Deputy Secretary. The four Under Secretaries are supported by twenty-three Deputy Under Secretaries.
Supporting this collection is the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) with approximately 465 military personnel and 1,560 civilians assigned. In addition, there are 15 separate agencies under the Secretary of Defense that support the Department of Defense and the military services. These agencies perform the general functions that affect all U.S. military activities. Of these agencies, eight are headed by military officers (indicated by asterisks) and seven by civilians:
1) Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
2) Defense Commissary Agency*
3) Defense Contract Audit Agency
4) Defense Contract Management Agency
5) Defense Finance and Accounting Agency
6) Defense Information Systems Agency*
7) Defense Intelligence Agency*
8) Defense Legal Services Agency
9) Defense Logistics Agency*
10) Defense Security Cooperation Agency*
11) Defense Threat Reduction Agency*
12) Missile Defense Agency* (formerly the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization)
13) National Imagery and Mapping Agency* (formerly the Defense Mapping Organization)
14) National Security Agency*
15) National Security Service
In addition to performing intelligence analysis for the OSD, the Defense Intelligence Agency also serves as the intelligence staff for the Joint Chiefs of Staff (equivalent of a J-2 staff). The National Security Agency (NSA) performs electronic intercept and cryptological activaties in support of the U.S. intelligence community, as well as the defense establishment. This agency also supervises the cryptologic activities of the Army, Navy. Marine Corps and Air Force.
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The reason that the American Army does so well in wartime, is that war is chaos, and the American Army practices chaos on a daily basis.
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