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, secondarily referred to as the Department of War (DoW), is an is an executive department of the U.S. federal government charged with supervising the six U.S. armed services consisting of the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, Space Force, the Coast Guard.^[2] The current secretary of defense is Pete Hegseth. In 2025, President Donald Trump authorized "Department of War" as a secondary title for the DOD, however, congressional approval is needed to change the legal statutory name of the department.^[3]

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. Below the Department of Defense are three different military departments consisting of the Department of the Army, the Department of the Navy, and the Department of the Air Force. In addition, four national intelligence services are second to the Department of Defense consisting of 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.

References

↑ "DoD Personnel, Workforce Reports & Publications". Defense Manpower Data Center. June 30, 2024. Archived from the original on November 3, 2022. Retrieved Jan 20, 2025.
↑ "The World's Biggest Employers". Statista. November 11, 2022. Archived from the original on April 8, 2024. Retrieved August 19, 2024.
↑ "Trump to Sign Order Renaming the Defense Department as the Department of War". 2025-09-04. Retrieved 2025-09-08.

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

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

[3] "Trump to Sign Order Renaming the Defense Department as the Department of War". 2025-09-04. Retrieved 2025-09-08.

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