The deputy secretary of defense (acronym: DepSecDef), secondarily but informally titled the deputy secretary of war (DepSecWar), is a statutory office () and the second-highest-ranking official in the United States Department of Defense.

The deputy secretary is the principal civilian deputy to the secretary of defense, and is appointed by the president, with the advice and consent of the Senate. The deputy secretary, by statute, is designated as the DoD chief management officer and must be a civilian, at least seven years removed from service as a commissioned officer on active-duty at the date of appointment..

History , April 2, 1949, originally established this position as the under secretary of defense, however 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.Department of Defense Key Officials 1947–2015: p. 15.

, 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 Ellsworth, serving from December 23, 1975, until January 10, 1977, was the only one to ever hold that office. , October 21, 1977, established two under secretaries of defense and 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 secretary of defense.

The typical role of the deputy secretary of defense is to oversee the day-to-day business and lead the internal management processes of the $500-billion-plus Department of Defense budget, that is as its chief operating officer; while the secretary of defense as the chief executive officer focuses on the big issues of the day, ongoing military operations, high-profile congressional hearings, attending meetings of the National Security Council, and directly advising the president on defense issues.

Prior to February 1, 2018, the deputy secretary of defense also served as the department's chief management officer, to whom the deputy chief management officer reported, but those responsibilities were split into a new chief management officer of the Department of Defense position (disestablished on 1 January 2021).

The deputy secretary, among the office's many responsibilities, chairs the Senior Level Review Group (SLRG), before 2005 known as Defense Resources Board (DRB), which provides department-wide budgetary allocation recommendations to the secretary and the president. Traditionally, the deputy secretary has been the civilian official guiding the process of the Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR).

The deputy secretary of defense chairs the Special Access Program Oversight Committee (SAPOC), which has oversight responsibilities and provides recommendations with respect to changes in status of the department's Special Access Programs, for either the deputy secretary defense or the secretary of defense to make.

List of deputy secretaries of defense No. Image Name Term of office Serving underSecretaries of Defense Appointed byPresident Began Ended Time in office 1 Stephen Early August 10, 1949 September 30, 1950 Louis A. JohnsonGeorge C. MarshallHarry S. Truman 2 Robert A. Lovett October 4, 1950 September 16, 1951 George C. Marshall 3 William Chapman Foster September 24, 1951 January 20, 1953 Robert A. Lovett 4 Roger M. Kyes February 2, 1953 May 1, 1954 Charles Erwin WilsonDwight D. Eisenhower 5 Robert B. Anderson May 3, 1954 August 4, 1955 6 Reuben B. Robertson Jr. August 5, 1955 April 25, 1957 7 Donald A. Quarles May 1, 1957 May 8, 1959 Charles Erwin WilsonNeil H. McElroy 8 Thomas S. Gates Jr. June 8, 1959 December 1, 1959 Neil H. McElroy 9 James H. Douglas Jr. December 11, 1959 January 24, 1961 Thomas S. Gates Jr.Robert McNamara 10 Roswell Gilpatric January 24, 1961 January 20, 1964 Robert McNamara John F. Kennedy 11 Cyrus Vance January 28, 1964 June 30, 1967 Lyndon B. Johnson 12 Paul Nitze July 1, 1967 January 20, 1969 Robert McNamaraClark Clifford 13 David Packard January 24, 1969 December 13, 1971 Melvin LairdRichard Nixon 14 Kenneth Rush February 23, 1972 January 29, 1973 15 Bill Clements January 30, 1973 January 20, 1977 Elliot RichardsonJames R. SchlesingerDonald Rumsfeld 16 Robert Ellsworth December 23, 1975Department of Defense Key Officials 1947–2015: p. 16. January 10, 1977 Donald Rumsfeld Gerald Ford 17 Charles Duncan Jr. January 31, 1977 July 26, 1979 Harold BrownJimmy Carter 18 W. Graham Claytor Jr. August 24, 1979 January 16, 1981 19 Frank Carlucci February 4, 1981 December 31, 1982 Caspar WeinbergerRonald Reagan 20 W. Paul Thayer January 12, 1983 January 4, 1984 21 William Howard Taft IV February 3, 1984 April 22, 1989 Caspar WeinbergerFrank CarlucciDick Cheney 22 Donald J. Atwood Jr. April 24, 1989 January 20, 1993 Dick Cheney George H. W. Bush 23 William Perry March 5, 1993 February 3, 1994 Les AspinBill Clinton 24 John M. Deutch March 11, 1994 May 10, 1995 William Perry 25 John P. White June 22, 1995 July 15, 1997 William PerryWilliam Cohen 26 John Hamre July 29, 1997 March 31, 2000 William Cohen 27 Rudy de Leon March 31, 2000Department of Defense Key Officials 1947–2015: p. 17. March 1, 2001 William CohenDonald Rumsfeld 28 Paul Wolfowitz March 2, 2001 May 13, 2005 Donald RumsfeldGeorge W. Bush 29 Gordon R. England January 4, 2006 February 11, 2009 Donald RumsfeldRobert Gates 30 William J. Lynn III February 12, 2009 October 5, 2011 Robert GatesLeon PanettaBarack Obama 31 Ash Carter October 6, 2011 December 4, 2013 Leon PanettaChuck Hagel — Christine FoxActing December 5, 2013Department of Defense Key Officials 1947–2015: p. 18. May 1, 2014 Chuck Hagel 32 Robert O. Work May 1, 2014 July 14, 2017 Chuck HagelAsh CarterJim Mattis 33 Patrick M. Shanahan July 19, 2017 June 23, 2019 Jim MattisHimself (acting) Donald Trump — David NorquistActing January 1, 2019 July 23, 2019 Patrick M. Shanahan (acting)Mark Esper (acting)Richard V. Spencer (acting) — Richard V. SpencerActing July 23, 2019 July 31, 2019 Mark Esper 34 David Norquist July 31, 2019 February 8, 2021 Mark Esper Lloyd Austin 35 Kathleen Hicks February 8, 2021 January 20, 2025 Lloyd Austin Joe Biden — Robert G. Salessesdefense.govActing January 28, 2025 March 17, 2025 Pete Hegseth Donald Trump 36 Stephen Feinberg March 17, 2025 Incumbent

See also Defense Acquisition Board Defense Policy Board Advisory Committee Deputy's Advisory Working Group, a panel chaired by the deputy secretary of defense Packard Commission

Notes

References Citations

Sources

deputy secretary of defense position profile at Prunes Online

External links defense.gov