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Department of Defense - Federal Departments

Year Founded:
1947
Employees:
3,000,000
Outlay:
$651B / year

The Federal Government is broken down into fifteen departments, each of which consists of a number of sub-departments and organizational groups tasked with accomplishing the Department's overall goals.

The Department of Defense (DoD) is concerned directly with the activities and the United States Armed Forces. The DoD provides the military personnel, arms, and civilian support staff needed defend the nation. The DoD provides training, logistics and tactical support to the military in addition to conducting research and development of the tools, equipment, technology, arms and munitions that the warfighter needs. The Department of Defense is the largest employer in the world.

Who does the Department of Defense hire?

Civilian employees work for the DoD in a wide range of fields. The DoD conducts research in all STEM fields including all branches of Engineers, Computer Science, Chemistry, Biology, Physics and Mathematics. In addition to sciences, the DoD has extensive support staff, administrative, financial, legal and hourly wage blue-collar jobs. Educators, Translators, Doctors are in high demand with the DoD as well. As the largest employer in the federal government the DoD hires in nearly every field and subject matter.

The Department of Defense is based in Arlington, Virginia in the Pentagon. The DoD also employs military and civilian personnel at over 400 military bases across the United States and around the world.

History of the Department of Defense

Department of Defense

The War Department, created on September 29, 1789, was the forerunner to the Department of Defense. The War Department brought the Army, Navy and Marines under a single roof but still left the branches of military largely autonomous. This system of managing the military remained in effect until after World War II. During the war, the separate branches of the War Department struggled to communicate which resulted in waste and inefficiency.

After the war, President Harry Truman called for congress to unify the military branches in order to improve efficiency and prevent further conflicts. In 1947, Congress separated the military branches into the Department of the Army, Department of the Navy and Department of the Air Force and placed all three under the National Military Establishment (NME). Two years later, in 1949, the NME would be renamed to the Department of Defense (DoD).

Under the National Security Act of 1947, which created the DoD, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), National Security Council and the Joint Chiefs of Staff were also created.

Initially named "National Military Establishment" 1947-49. Created as a subsuming—from executive to sub-executive status—of the Departments of The Navy and War (which split into the Departments of the Army and Air Force).


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** This Document Provided By www.FederalPay.org - The Civil Employee's Resource **
Source: www.federalpay.org/departments/departmentofdefense