United States Department of Defense

United States Department of Defense
	Seal of the Department of Defense
	Logo for the Department of Defense
	; An aerial view of the Pentagon
Agency overview
Formed	18 September 1947 (as National Military Establishment)
Preceding agencies	Department of War; Department of the Navy;
Type	Executive department
Jurisdiction	U.S. federal government
Headquarters	The Pentagon; Arlington County, Virginia, U.S.; 38°52′16″N 77°3′21″W / 38.87111°N 77.05583°W
Employees	789,594 (civilian); 1,294,191 (active duty military); 761,601 (National Guard and reserve); 2,845,386 total (June 30, 2024);
Annual budget	$842 billion FY2024
Agency executives	Peter Hegseth, Secretary; Steve Feinberg, Deputy Secretary; Dan Caine, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Christopher W. Grady, Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff;
Child agencies	Department of the Army; Department of the Navy; Department of the Air Force; National Security Agency; Defense Intelligence Agency; National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency; National Reconnaissance Office;
Website	defense.gov

The United States Department of Defense (DoD,^[2] USDOD, or DOD) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government charged with coordinating and supervising the six U.S. armed services: the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, Space Force, the Coast Guard for some purposes, and related functions and agencies. As of November 2022, the department has over 1.4 million active-duty uniformed personnel in the six armed services.^[3] It also supervises over 778,000 National Guard and reservist personnel, and over 747,000 civilians, bringing the total to over 2.91 million employees.^[1] Headquartered at the Pentagon in Arlington County, Virginia, just outside Washington, D.C., the Department of Defense's stated mission is "to provide the military forces needed to deter war and ensure our nation's security".^[4]^[5] The current secretary of defense is Pete Hegseth.

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. The president is commander-in-chief of the U.S. armed forces. Beneath the Department of Defense are three subordinate military departments: the Department of the Army, the Department of the Navy, and the Department of the Air Force. In addition, four national intelligence services are subordinate to the Department of Defense: the Defense Intelligence Agency, National Security Agency (NSA), National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, and National Reconnaissance Office.

Other Department of Defense agencies include the 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, all of which are subordinate to the secretary of defense. Additionally, the Defense Contract Management Agency is responsible for administering contracts for the Department of Defense. Military operations are managed by eleven regional or functional unified combatant commands. The Department of Defense also operates several joint services schools, including the Eisenhower School and the National War College.

^ ^a ^b "DoD Personnel, Workforce Reports & Publications". Defense Manpower Data Center. 30 June 2024. Archived from the original on 3 November 2022. Retrieved 20 January 2025.
^ "Manual for Written Material" (PDF). Department of Defense. p. 9. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 August 2004. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
^ "The World's Biggest Employers". Statista. 11 November 2022. Archived from the original on 8 April 2024. Retrieved 19 August 2024.
^ "U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE > Our Story". www.defense.gov. Archived from the original on 7 October 2018. Retrieved 17 October 2018.
^ Szoldra, Paul (29 June 2018). "Trump's Pentagon Quietly Made a Change to the Stated Mission It's Had for Two Decades". Task & Purpose. Archived from the original on 30 June 2018. Retrieved 1 July 2018.

[workforce-1] "DoD Personnel, Workforce Reports & Publications". Defense Manpower Data Center. 30 June 2024. Archived from the original on 3 November 2022. Retrieved 20 January 2025.

[2] "Manual for Written Material" (PDF). Department of Defense. p. 9. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 August 2004. Retrieved 10 December 2014.

[3] "The World's Biggest Employers". Statista. 11 November 2022. Archived from the original on 8 April 2024. Retrieved 19 August 2024.

[4] "U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE > Our Story". www.defense.gov. Archived from the original on 7 October 2018. Retrieved 17 October 2018.

[5] Szoldra, Paul (29 June 2018). "Trump's Pentagon Quietly Made a Change to the Stated Mission It's Had for Two Decades". Task & Purpose. Archived from the original on 30 June 2018. Retrieved 1 July 2018.

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Agency overview
Seal of the Department of Defense
Logo for the Department of Defense
An aerial view of the Pentagon
Formed	18 September 1947; 77 years ago (1947-09-18) (as National Military Establishment)
Preceding agencies	Department of War Department of the Navy
Type	Executive department
Jurisdiction	U.S. federal government
Headquarters	The Pentagon Arlington County, Virginia, U.S. 38°52′16″N 77°3′21″W / 38.87111°N 77.05583°W / 38.87111; -77.05583
Employees	789,594 (civilian)^[1] 1,294,191 (active duty military) 761,601 (National Guard and reserve) 2,845,386 total (June 30, 2024)
Annual budget	$842 billion FY2024
Agency executives	Peter Hegseth, Secretary Steve Feinberg, Deputy Secretary Dan Caine, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Christopher W. Grady, Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
Child agencies	Department of the Army Department of the Navy Department of the Air Force National Security Agency Defense Intelligence Agency National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency National Reconnaissance Office
Website	defense.gov