The deputy secretary of defense (acronym: DepSecDef) who is secondarily but informally titled the deputy secretary of war (DepSecWar), is a statutory office () and the second-highest-ranking official in the Department of Defense of the United States of America.
The deputy secretary is the principal civilian deputy to the secretary of defense, and is appointed by the president, with the advice and consent of the Senate. The deputy secretary, by statute, is designated as the DoD chief management officer and must be a civilian, at least seven years removed from service as a commissioned officer on active-duty at the date of appointment.
History
, April 2, 1949, originally established this position as the under secretary of defense, however August 10, 1949, a.k.a. the 1949 Amendments to the National Security Act of 1947, changed the title to deputy secretary of defense. Former assistant to President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Stephen Early, became the first officer holder when he was sworn in on May 2, 1949.
, October 27, 1972, established a second deputy secretary of defense position, with both deputies performing duties as prescribed by the secretary of defense. The second deputy position was not filled until December 1975. Robert Ellsworth, serving from December 23, 1975, until January 10, 1977, was the only one to ever hold that office. , October 21, 1977, established two under secretaries of defense and abolished the second deputy position.
The deputy secretary, among the office's many responsibilities, chairs the Senior Level Review Group (SLRG), before 2005 known as Defense Resources Board (DRB), which provides department-wide budgetary allocation recommendations to the secretary and the president. Traditionally, the deputy secretary has been the civilian official guiding the process of the Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR).
The deputy secretary of defense chairs the Special Access Program Oversight Committee (SAPOC), which has oversight responsibilities and provides recommendations with respect to changes in status of the department's Special Access Programs, for either the deputy secretary defense or the secretary of defense to make.
List of deputy secretaries of defense
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"
!rowspan="2"| No.
!rowspan="2"| Image
!rowspan="2"| Name
!colspan="3"| Term of office
!rowspan="2"| Serving under<br>Secretaries of Defense
!rowspan="2"| Appointed by<br>President
|-
! Began
! Ended
! Time in office
|-
| 1
| 100px
| Stephen Early
| <br />August 10, 1949
| January 10, 1977
| March 1, 2001
| bgcolor="#e6e6aa" | May 1, 2014
|
| Jim Mattis<br>Himself (acting)
|rowspan="4"| Donald Trump
|-
| bgcolor="#e6e6aa" | —
| bgcolor="#e6e6aa" | 100px
| bgcolor="#e6e6aa" | David Norquist<br>Acting
| bgcolor="#e6e6aa" | January 1, 2019
| bgcolor="#e6e6aa" | July 23, 2019
| bgcolor="#e6e6aa" |
| Patrick M. Shanahan (acting)<br>Mark Esper (acting)<br>Richard V. Spencer (acting)
|-
| bgcolor="#e6e6aa" | —
| bgcolor="#e6e6aa" | 100px
| bgcolor="#e6e6aa" | Richard V. Spencer<br>Acting
| bgcolor="#e6e6aa" | July 23, 2019
| bgcolor="#e6e6aa" | July 31, 2019
| bgcolor="#e6e6aa" |
| Mark Esper
|-
| 34
| 100px
| David Norquist
| July 31, 2019
| February 8, 2021
|
|Mark Esper<br> Lloyd Austin
|-
| 35
| 100px
| Kathleen Hicks
| February 8, 2021
| January 20, 2025
|
| Lloyd Austin
| Joe Biden
|-
| bgcolor="#e6e6aa" | —
| bgcolor="#e6e6aa" | 100px
| bgcolor="#e6e6aa" | Robert G. Salesses<br>Acting
| bgcolor="#e6e6aa" | January 28, 2025
| bgcolor="#e6e6aa" | March 17, 2025
| bgcolor="#e6e6aa" |
|rowspan="2"| Pete Hegseth
|rowspan="2"| Donald Trump
|-
| 36
| 100px
| Stephen Feinberg
| March 17, 2025
| Incumbent
|
|}
See also
- Defense Acquisition Board
- Defense Policy Board Advisory Committee
- Deputy's Advisory Working Group, a panel chaired by the deputy secretary of defense
- Packard Commission
Notes
References
Citations
Sources
- deputy secretary of defense position profile at Prunes Online
External links
- defense.gov