The Us Department of Defense

As of January 20th, 2017, James N. Mattis became the twenty-sixth Secretary of Defence under President Donald J. Trump. James was born in Richland, Washington and started his life of dedicated service to our country at the age of eighteen, upon his enlistment into the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve. He then was assigned the position of a second lieutenant following his graduation from college in 1971. Since then he has been given many titles and positions in the U.S. Marine as well as others in our military. James Mattis has been fully prepared for the responsibility of a position in the president’s Cabinet. Four decades of service in uniform marks his experience in the armed forces. Having commanded each and every level of the Marines, he is quite practiced in running a team. Most of his four decades in uniform were spent in combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. Mattis then served as the Davies Family Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University following his retirement in 2013 from the Marine Corps. This institution specialized in the studies of all needed abilities such as leadership, national security, strategy, innovation, and the effective use of the military force. Now as Secretary of the Department of Defense, he, along with the President of the United States, directs the planning, advising, and the carrying out of the nations security policies. He also helps direct and control the actions of the Department of Defense.

As one of the largest departments in the Cabinet, the Department of Defense holds an immense amount of responsibility and importance. Their headquarters is in the prestigious Pentagon. In order to efficiently keep and maintain the protection and safety of our country, there is a large burden upon the department to work efficiently and productively. The Department of Defense makes sure that our country’s defense installation and facilities are properly placed, deployed and stationed as wells the right qualities and capacities to do the best job of protecting our country. This needs to be without overly stationing troops and supplies. The U.S military forces work to fight and protect the people from the urgent threat of terrorism. With personel all over the earth (over 450,000 civilians and military personnel overseas)as well as the country, the Department of Defense operates on a huge level and when all the sites nationwide are added up, millions of acres are used. The size of the Department of Defense is truly incredible. With a overall budget of hundreds of billions of dollars and millions of employees, the Department truly has a massive reach and connection. The DoD is lead and ordered by the U.S. President in addition to the Secretary of Defense and the National Security Council.

Lastly, The Department of Defense trains and equips soldiers in the three branches of the US military: The Army, The Navy, and The Air Force. They also oversee that each branch trains their soldiers and personnel effectively for fighting wars, keeping peace, and assisting disaster tasks. The DOD also contributes to homeland security and defense.

In 1789, under President George Washington, Congress created the Department of War. The Coast Guard was then established a year later. The Department of the Navy then followed and was created in 1798. "The decision to unify the different services under one Department led to the creation of the National Military Establishment in 1947," according to the U.S Department of Defense. This establishment would take the place of the War Department, which then transformed into the Department of the Army. The U.S. Air Force was formed that same year. The founding of the Department of the Air Force then came after. Eventually the Army, Navy, and Air Force, were arranged under immediate control of the new Secretary of Defense, settled by Senate. "In 1949, an amendment to the National Security Act further consolidated the national defense structure by withdrawing cabinet-level status from the three Service secretaries," according to the U.S Department of Defense.

The National Military Establishment then took the title of the Department of Defense.Pending and/or Recent Legislation On December 13, 2016, the Department of Defense released an amend to the Law of War Manual. "Protecting civilians in armed conflict is critical, and it’s important that our legal guidance is clear and practical. This version of the manual provides greater clarity and also reflects important developments such as the president’s recent executive order on civilian casualties," says DoD General Counsel Jennifer O’Connor. The modernized manual strengthens the deliberation of the proposition of the proportionality and administers small updates to other sections. Because proportionality is a critical legal ethic that helps assure the people in armed struggle. Fun FactsThe Pentagon (Headquarters of the Department of Defense) has more floor space than the Empire State Building in New York.

The Department of Defense uses over 30 million acres of land in total.The Department of Defense has over 3 million employees.The Department of Defence has a budget of 419.3 billion dollars.