United States Deputy Secretary of Defense

Deputy Secretary of Defense DEPSECDEF
Flag of the Deputy Secretary of Defense
Incumbent Ashton B. Carter since October 6, 2011
Style	The Honorable
Inaugural holder	Stephen Early
Formation	1949
Deputy	Deputy Chief Management Officer of the Department of Defense
Salary	Executive Schedule Level II
Website	defense.gov

The Deputy Secretary of Defense (DEPSECDEF) is the second-highest ranking official in the Department of Defense of the United States of America. The Deputy Secretary of Defense is appointed by the President, with the advice and consent of the Senate. The Deputy Secretary, by statute, must be a civilian, at least seven years removed from service as a commissioned officer on active-duty at the date of appointment.

The Deputy Secretary of Defense position is currently held by Ashton B. Carter.

History

Public Law 81-36, 2 April 1949, originally established this position as the Under Secretary of Defense, however Public Law 81-2 16, 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.

Public Law 92-596, 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 F. Ellsworth, serving from December 23, 1975 until 10 January 1977, was the only one to ever hold that office. Public Law 95-140, 21 October 1977, the law establishing two Under Secretaries of Defense, abolished the second deputy position.

Responsibilities

By delegation, the Deputy Secretary of Defense has full power and authority to act for the Secretary of Defense and to exercise the powers of the Secretary of Defense on any and all matters for which the Secretary is authorized to act pursuant to statute or executive order. The Deputy Secretary is first in the line of succession to the Office of Secretary of Defense.

The typical role of the Deputy Secretary of Defense is to oversee the day-to-day business and management of the $500 billion plus Department of Defense, that is as its Chief Operating Officer, while the Secretary of Defense focuses on the big issues and advises the President. The Deputy Secretary, among the office's responsibilities, chairs the Senior Level Review Group (SLRG), before 2005 known as Defense Resources Board (DRB), and manages the Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR).

List of Deputy Secretaries of Defense

No.	Image	Name	Term of Office			Secretaries of Defense serving under:	President appointed by:
			Began	Ended	Days of Service
1		Stephen Early	2 May 1949 10 August 1949	9 August 1949 [1] 30 September 1950 [2]	516	Louis A. Johnson George Marshall	Harry S. Truman
2		Robert A. Lovett	4 October 1950	16 September 1951	316	George Marshall
3		William Chapman Foster	24 September 1951	20 January 1953	484	Robert A. Lovett
4		Roger M. Kyes	2 February 1953	1 May 1954	453	Charles E. Wilson	Dwight D. Eisenhower
5		Robert B. Anderson	3 May 1954	4 August 1955	458
6		Reuben B. Robertson, Jr.	5 August 1955	25 April 1957	629
7		Donald A. Quarles	1 May 1957	8 May 1959	737	Charles E. Wilson Neil H. McElroy
8		Thomas S. Gates	8 June 1959	1 December 1959	176	Neil H. McElroy
9		James H. Douglas, Jr.	11 December 1959	24 January 1961	410	Thomas S. Gates Robert McNamara
10		Roswell Gilpatric	24 January 1961	20 January 1964	1091	Robert McNamara	John F. Kennedy
11		Cyrus Vance	28 January 1964	30 June 1967	1249		Lyndon B. Johnson
12		Paul Nitze	1 July 1967	20 January 1969	569	Robert McNamara Clark Clifford
13		David Packard	24 January 1969	13 December 1971	1053	Melvin R. Laird	Richard Nixon
14		Kenneth Rush	23 February 1972	29 January 1973	341
15		William P. Clements, Jr.	30 January 1973	20 January 1977	1451	Elliot Richardson James R. Schlesinger Donald Rumsfeld
16		Charles W. Duncan, Jr.	31 January 1977	26 July 1979	906	Harold Brown	Jimmy Carter
17		W. Graham Claytor, Jr.	24 August 1979	16 January 1981	511
18		Frank Carlucci	4 February 1981	31 December 1982	695	Caspar Weinberger	Ronald Reagan
19		W. Paul Thayer	12 January 1983	4 January 1984	357
20		William Howard Taft IV	3 February 1984	22 April 1989	1905	Caspar Weinberger Frank Carlucci Dick Cheney
21		Donald J. Atwood Jr.	24 April 1989	20 January 1993	1367	Dick Cheney	George H. W. Bush
22		William J. Perry	5 March 1993	3 February 1994	335	Les Aspin	Bill Clinton
23		John M. Deutch	11 March 1994	10 May 1995	425	William J. Perry
24		John P. White	22 June 1995	15 July 1997	754	William J. Perry William Cohen
25		John J. Hamre	29 July 1997	31 March 2000	976	William Cohen
26		Rudy de Leon	31 March 2000	1 March 2001	335	William Cohen Donald Rumsfeld
27		Paul Wolfowitz	2 March 2001	13 May 2005	1533	Donald Rumsfeld	George W. Bush
28		Gordon R. England	13 May 2005 4 January 2006	4 January 2006[3] 11 February 2009	236 1134	Donald Rumsfeld Robert Gates
29		William J. Lynn III	12 February 2009	5 October 2011	1013	Robert Gates Leon Panetta	Barack Obama
30		Ashton B. Carter	6 October 2011	Incumbent	47	Leon Panetta	Barack Obama

See also

• Defense Acquisition Board
• Defense Policy Board Advisory Committee
• Deputy's Advisory Working Group, a panel chaired by the Deputy Secretary of Defense

References

 This article incorporates public domain material from the United States Government document "http://osdhistory.defense.gov/docs/DOD%20Key%20Officials%201947-2004.pdf".

• 10 U.S.C. § 132. Deputy Secretary of Defense, accessed on 2010-07-22.
• Department of Defense Key Officials 1947-2004, Historical Office, Office of the Secretary of Defense, pp. 11–13; available online
• Deputy Secretary of Defense position profile at Prunes Online

Notes

1. ^ As "Under Secretary of Defense"
2. ^ As "Deputy Secretary of Defense"
3. ^ Served as Acting Deputy Secretary of Defense