Changes

[[File:United States Department of Defense Seal.svg|right|200px]]

The '''United States Department of Defense''', also known as the '''USDoD''', is a department in the [[United States]] [[government]] that is in charge of the [[military of the United States]]. It was created in 1947 and its [[headquarters]] is in [[The Pentagon]] in [[Washington, D.C.]]. The person in charge of the Department of Defense is called the [[Secretary of Defense]]. The current Secretary of Defense is [[Pete Hegseth]]. The Secretary of Defense answers directly to the [[President (United States)|President]].

| agency_name    = United States Department of Defense

| seal            = US Department of Defense seal.svg

| seal_width      = 175

| seal_caption    = Seal of the Department of Defense

| logo            = United States Department of Defense Logo (2021).svg

| picture        = An aerial view of the Pentagon, Washington, D.C., May 15, 2023.jpg

| picture_caption = An aerial view of the Pentagon

| preceding1      = [[United States Department of War|Department of War]]

| preceding2      = [[United States Department of the Navy|Department of the Navy]]

| jurisdiction    = [[Federal government of the United States|U.S. federal government]]

| headquarters    = [[The Pentagon]]<br />[[Arlington County, Virginia]], U.S.

| employees      = {{ubl|789,594 (civilian)<ref name="workforce">{{cite web |title=DoD Personnel, Workforce Reports & Publications|url=https://dwp.dmdc.osd.mil/dwp/app/dod-data-reports/workforce-reports |date=June 30, 2024 |publisher=Defense Manpower Data Center |access-date=Jan 20, 2025 |archive-date=November 3, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221103152017/https://dwp.dmdc.osd.mil/dwp/app/dod-data-reports/workforce-reports |url-status=live }}</ref>|1,294,191 (active duty military)|761,601 (National Guard and reserve)|

| chief1_position = [[United States Secretary of Defense|Secretary]]

| chief2_position = [[United States Deputy Secretary of Defense|Deputy Secretary]]

| chief3_name    = [[Dan Caine]]

| chief3_position = [[Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff]]

| chief4_name    = [[Christopher W. Grady]]

| chief4_position = [[Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff]]

| child1_agency  = [[United States Department of the Army|Department of the Army]]

| child2_agency  = [[United States Department of the Navy|Department of the Navy]]

| child3_agency  = [[United States Department of the Air Force|Department of the Air Force]]

| child5_agency  = [[Defense Intelligence Agency]]

| child7_agency  = [[National Reconnaissance Office]]

| website        = {{URL|https://www.defense.gov|defense.gov}}

| agency_type    = [[United States Federal Executive Departments|Executive department]]

The Department of Defense is made up of three Military Departments:the [[United States Department of the Army|Department of the Army]] (United States Army),the [[United States Department of the Navy|Department of the Navy (United States Navy and Marine Corps)]],and the [[United States Air Force|Department of the Air Force (United States Air Force and Space Force)]] along with the [[National Security Agency|National Security Agency (NSA)]],and the [[Defense Intelligence Agency]] (DIA). The Department of the Navy includes the [[United States Navy|Navy]] and the [[United States Marine Corps|Marine Corps]]. Also, during times of [[war]] the [[United States Coast Guard]] is under the [[authority]] of the Department of Defense.

The '''United States Department of Defense''', also known as the '''Department of War''' ('''DoW'''), is an is an [[United States federal executive departments|executive department]] of the [[Federal government of the United States|U.S. federal government]] charged with supervising the six U.S. armed services consisting of the [[United States Army|Army]], [[United States Navy|Navy]], [[United States Marine Corps|Marines]], [[United States Air Force|Air Force]], [[United States Space Force|Space Force]], the [[United States Coast Guard|Coast Guard]].<ref>{{cite web|date=November 11, 2022|title=The World's Biggest Employers|url=https://www.statista.com/chart/3585/the-worlds-biggest-employers/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240408133455/https://www.statista.com/chart/3585/the-worlds-biggest-employers/|archive-date=April 8, 2024|access-date=August 19, 2024|work=Statista}}</ref> The current [[United States Secretary of Defense|secretary of defense]] is [[Pete Hegseth]]. In 2025, President [[Donald Trump]] authorized "Department of War" as a secondary title for the DOD, however, congressional approval is needed to change the legal statutory name of the department.<ref>{{Cite news|date=2025-09-04|title=Trump to Sign Order Renaming the Defense Department as the Department of War|language=en|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/04/us/politics/trump-department-of-war-defense.html|access-date=2025-09-08}}</ref>

 

The Department of Defense is headed by the secretary of defense, a cabinet-level head who reports directly to the [[president of the United States]]. Below the Department of Defense are three different military departments consisting of the [[United States Department of the Army|Department of the Army]], the [[United States Department of the Navy|Department of the Navy]], and the [[United States Department of the Air Force|Department of the Air Force]]. In addition, four [[United States Intelligence Community|national intelligence services]] are second to the Department of Defense consisting of the [[Defense Intelligence Agency]], [[National Security Agency]] (NSA), [[National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency]], and [[National Reconnaissance Office]].

 

Other [[List of Department of Defense agencies|Department of Defense agencies]] include the [[DARPA|Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency]] (DARPA), [[Defense Logistics Agency]], [[Missile Defense Agency]], [[Defense Health Agency]], [[Defense Threat Reduction Agency]], [[Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency]], [[Space Development Agency]] and [[Pentagon Force Protection Agency]].

== United States Department Of Defense Media ==

== United States Department Of Defense Media ==

<gallery widths='160px' heights='100%' mode='traditional' caption=''>

<gallery widths='160px' heights='100%' mode='traditional' caption=''>

File: Photograph of President Truman at his desk in the Oval Office, signing the National Security Act Amendments of 1949... - NARA - 200168.jpg|[[Harry Truman|President Truman]] signs the National Security Act Amendment of 1949.

 

 

 

 

File:Photograph of President Truman at his desk in the Oval Office, signing the National Security Act Amendments of 1949... - NARA - 200168.jpg|[[Harry Truman|President Truman]] signs the National Security Act Amendment of 1949.

File:Organization of U.S. Space Force.png|Organization of the Department of Defense following the creation of the United States Space Force

File:Organization of U.S. Space Force.png|Organization of the Department of Defense following the creation of the United States Space Force

File:The Joint Staff Org Chart.jpg|[[Joint Chiefs of Staff]] and Joint Staff organizational chart

File:The Joint Staff Org Chart.jpg|[[Joint Chiefs of Staff]] and Joint Staff organizational chart

[[Category:United States Department of Defense]]

[[Category:United States Department of Defense]]

[[Category:1947 establishments in the United States]]

[[Category:1947 establishments in the United States]]