Office of the Secretary of Defense

The Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) is a headquarters-level staff of the Department of Defense of the United States of America. It is the principal civilian staff element of the Secretary of Defense, and it assists the Secretary in carrying out authority, direction and control of the Department of Defense in the exercise of policy development, planning, resource management, fiscal, and program evaluation responsibilities. OSD (along with the Joint Staff) is the Secretary of Defense’s support staff for managing the Department of Defense, and it corresponds to what the Executive Office of the President is to the President for managing the whole of the Executive branch of the federal government.

OSD includes the Immediate offices of the Secretary (SECDEF) and the Deputy Secretary of Defense (DEPSECDEF), as well as five Under Secretaries of Defense in the fields of Acquisition, Technology & Logistics; Comptroller/Chief Financial Officer; Intelligence; Personnel & Readiness; and Policy. All of these positions are Presidential appointments which require U.S. Senate confirmation.

Other positions include the Assistant Secretaries of Defense, Assistants to the Secretary of Defense, General Counsel, Director of Operational Test & Evaluation, Director of Administration and Management, and such other staff offices as the Secretary establishes to assist in carrying out their assigned responsibilities.

Composition of OSD


Major elements of OSD (listed alphabetically):


 * Assistant Secretary of Defense for Asian and Pacific Security Affairs (APSA)
 * Assistant Secretary of Defense for Global Strategic Affairs (GSA)
 * Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs (HA)
 * Assistant Secretary of Defense for Homeland Defense and Americas' Security Affairs (HD&ASA)
 * Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs (ISA)
 * Assistant Secretary of Defense for Legislative Affairs (LA)
 * Assistant Secretary of Defense for Logistics and Materiel Readiness (L&MR)
 * Chief Information Officer (NII/DoD CIO)
 * Assistant Secretary of Defense for Nuclear, Chemical & Biological Defense Programs (NCB)
 * Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs (PA)
 * Assistant Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering (R&E)
 * Assistant Secretary of Defense for Reserve Affairs (RA)
 * Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations/Low Intensity Conflict & Interdependent Capabilities (SO/LIC&IC)
 * Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Intelligence Oversight (ATSIO)
 * Chief Information Office (OSD-CIO)
 * Defense Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO)
 * Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Manufacturing and Industrial Base
 * Deputy Chief Management Officer
 * Deputy Secretary of Defense
 * Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Installations and Environment (I&E)
 * Director of Administration and Management (DA&M)
 * Director of Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation (CAPE)
 * Director of Family Policy
 * Director of Force Transformation
 * Director of Net Assessment
 * Director of the Office of Corrosion Policy and Oversight
 * Director, Operational Test and Evaluation (DOT&E)
 * Director of Small Business Programs
 * Executive Secretary of the Department of Defense
 * General Counsel of the Department of Defense
 * Secretary of Defense
 * Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller)/Chief Financial Officer (C/CFO)
 * Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics (AT&L)
 * Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence (I)
 * Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness (P&R)
 * Under Secretary of Defense for Policy (P)

Major Reorganizations
The composition of OSD is in a state of consistent flux, as Congress and DoD perpetually create new offices, redesignate existing ones, and abolish others.

Obama Administration Changes
During the Obama administration, Congress has sought to clarify the organization of OSD, and has worked with the Department to move toward a standardization of official naming conventions. Many Defense officials, including the Deputy Secretary of Defense (DEPSECDEF), all five Under Secretaries of Defense (USDs), and all Assistant Secretaries of Defense (ASDs), as well as any officials specifically designated in U.S. Code have historically been considered Presidentially-Appointed, Senate-Confirmed (PAS) officials, in that the Senate must provide "advice and consent" for each individual before he or she can operate in an official capacity. In a March 2009 letter, Senator Carl Levin, Chairman of the Senate Armed Service Committee, wrote that the Department was apparently exercising the authority to appoint other significant officials - termed Deputy Under Secretaries of Defense (DUSDs) - "without statutory authorization, without limitation, and without Senate confirmation." Levin was "concerned that the proliferation of DUSDs at multiple levels of the organization could muddy lines of authority and may not be in the best interest of the Department of Defense." Subsequent legislation established five Senate-confirmed Principal Deputies (i.e., "first assistants"), one for each Under Secretary of Defense.

The FY10 NDAA gave the Department of Defense until January 1, 2011, to eliminate or redesignate all other Deputy Under Secretaries who are not Principal Deputy Under Secretaries of Defense (PDUSDs). The FY11 NDAA extended this deadline to January 1, 2015. During that time, the Secretary may, at his or her discretion, appoint within OSD five additional non-PAS DUSDs beyond the five statutory PAS-PDUSDs. The USD(I) appears to be maintaining at least three non-PAS DUSDs, although they have been renamed. The USD (AT&L) has maintained the non-PAS DUSD for Installations and Environment, though the FY11 NDAA recommended merging this post with the newly created ASD for Operational Energy Plans and Programs. The USD(P) has maintained a non-PAS DUSD for Strategy, Plans, and Forces, though the FY11 NDAA recommended eliminating this position.

Nevertheless, a number of positions have been redesignated or eliminated during the Obama administration, pursuant to statutory language contained in the National Defense Authorization Acts of FY10 and FY11. and subsequent internal DoD reports.


 * DUSD = Deputy Under Secretary of Defense, ASD = Assistant Secretary of Defense, DASD = Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense