The United States Department of Defense Essay Sample free essay sample

The U. S. Department of Defense is the largest employer in the universe. using about 3. 2 million people on active responsibility. in the militias. and in the civilian sector ( Alexander. 2012 ) . The Department of Defense is an independent bureau runing under the legal power of the Federal Government. More than half of the one-year Federal discretional budget goes to the Department of Defense. There are three sections within the Department of Defense: the Department of the Army. the Department of the Navy and the Department of the Air Force ( â€Å"Department of defence. † ) . Additionally. there are countless bureaus within the Department of Defense. including the Missile Defense Agency. the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. and the Defense Intelligence Agency ( â€Å"Department of defence. † ) . The intent of the Department is to supply for fatherland security and the protection of American involvements abroad through the armed forces. moving on the bid of t he President. U. S. Congress. and the Secretary of Defense. The Department of Defense is headquartered in Arlington. Virginia. at the Pentagon. and the Department has lasting military bases located throughout the Earth. Equally long as America has been a state. it has had a standing military. preceding the American Revolution. In 1789. U. S. Congress established the War Department. and in 1798. the Department of the Navy was established ( Polmar. 2005 ) . The two sections had secretaries who held places within the President’s cabinet and acted as his advisers ( Polmar. 2005 ) . In 1945. President Harry S. Truman advised Congress to centralise province defence into one incorporate section ; with the transition of the National Security Act of 1947. the National Military Establishment was created ( Hogan. 2000 ) . The freshly unified military force so became overseen by the Secretary of Defense. At this clip. the National Security Council and the Central Intelligence Agency were created. A proviso to make the places of Joint Chiefs of Staff was besides included in the Act ; the Joint Chiefs of Staff straight advises the Secretary of Defense. every bit good as the Homeland Security Office. the Na tional Security Council and the President on affairs of war ( Polmar. 2005 ) . The Department of Defense Act of 1958 modified the concatenation of bid. traveling most of the determinations off from the Military Departments and into the custodies of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Secretary of Defense ( Polmar. 2005 ) . The President holds the highest office in the Department of Defense. functioning as the Commander in Chief as designated by the U. S. Constitution. The power vested in the President is channeled through the Secretary of Defense. who acts every bit adviser to the President and maintains control of the Department. second in bid merely to the President ( â€Å"Org chart. † ) . The Secretary of Defense is appointed by the President and approved by members of U. S. Congress. and handles the twenty-four hours to twenty-four hours operations of the Department ( â€Å"Org chart. † ) . Under the U. S. Constitution. merely U. S. Congress has the power to officially publish declarations of war at the petition of the President. and has done so 11 times throughout the history of the United States ( â€Å"Official declarations of. † ) . Undeclared war and drawn-out struggles have been carried out without the consent of Congress on over one 100 occasions. most notably when there is the at hand menace of danger to the United States or its involvements ( â€Å"The president’s constitutional. † 2001 ) . In 1973. U. S. Congress passed the War Powers Resolution. which placed a cheque on the President’s ability to direct military personnels into armed struggle without congressional consent ( â€Å"50 usc chapter. † ) . The Resolution holds that the President can non direct military personnels to war without congressional mandate. or in the event of â€Å"a national exigency created by onslaught upon the United States. its districts or ownerships. or its armed forces† ( â€Å"50 usc chapter. † ) . The Resolution holds that the President must advise Congress within 48 hours of make up ones minding to direct military personnels to conflict and the military personnels can non stay for more than two calendar months or 60 yearss ( â€Å"50 usc chapter. † ) . The Department of Defense one-year budget histories for over 45 per centum of international military disbursement ( â€Å"Military disbursement: defence. † 2011 ) . In 2010 entirely. the Department was allotted 21 per centum of the Federal budget. $ 533. 7 billion. with a $ 75. 5 billion accommodation for the twelvemonth 2009 and $ 130 billion for abroad struggle ( â€Å"Military disbursement: defence. † 2011 ) . As such. the Department of Defense was allocated a expansive sum of $ 1. 2 trillion dollars for the financial twelvemonth 2010 ( â€Å"Military disbursement: defence. †2011 ) . Since that clip. the Departmental budget has increased to $ 1. 5 trillion ( Shah. 2012 ) . The budget continues to increase yearly. thanks in portion to the proliferation of engineering in modern warfare and in portion to the continued struggles in Iraq and Afghanistan. The military-industrial complex employs 1000000s of Americans in the civilian sector. many working as sub-contra ctors and in the development of modern arms of war in weaponries mills. The United States has become a major universe power over the past two centuries ; as such. it is of no little effect that the United States possesses the most powerful military forces in the universe. Yet in comparing to other states. the United States defence budget may look extreme. even when one examines the dislocation of the American Federal budget line by line. To derive a spot of position. the national defence budget of the state of China was $ 106 billion for the twelvemonth 2012 ; China possesses the 2nd most powerful military in the universe ( Shah. 2012 ) . Systematically. more federal support goes straight to the Pentagon than to public instruction or to public wellness ; moreover. to welfare plans that would profit the needy. While any sensed menace to the safety of American citizens is non to be taken lightly. and while such danger requires a response by our armed forces. the fact is merely that some of the huge resources allocated to the Department of Defense may be better utilized elsewhere. The Department of Defense is really necessary as an executive section. as the defence of American lives and resources is of the extreme importance. Yet more of our revenue enha ncement dollars are used for the intents of the Department of Defense than to straight profit the mean American. It is of no uncertainty that the Department of Defense is really of import to the U. S. Government. and many of the determinations made by the Secretary of Defense and the Joint Chiefs of Staff on a day-to-day footing to safeguard American citizens will neer make our newspapers. The modern nation-state requires a force to protect and function. and this is the map of the Department of Defense. in protecting Americans and their involvements within our boundary lines and around the universe. Plants Cited ( 2011 ) . Military disbursement: defence costs. The Economist. Retrieved from hypertext transfer protocol: //www. economic expert. com/blogs/dailychart/2011/06/military-spending Alexander. R. ( 2012. Mar 12 ) . Which is the world’s biggest employer? . BBC. Retrieved from hypertext transfer protocol: //www. bbc. co. uk/news/magazine-17429786 Cornell Law. ( n. d. ) . 50 usc chapter 33 – war powers declaration. Retrieved from hypertext transfer protocol: //www. jurisprudence. Cornell. edu/uscode/text/50/chapter-33 Department of defence. ( n. d. ) . Retrieved fromhypertext transfer protocol: //www. usa. gov/Agencies/Federal/Executive/Defense. shtml Hogan. M. ( 2000 ) . A cross of Fe. ( p. 37 ) . Cambridge University Press. Retrieved from hypertext transfer protocol: //books. Google. com/books? id=Hd4C3cY7Y7IC A ; pg=PA37 Polmar. N. ( 2005 ) . The naval institute usher to the ships and aircraft of the us fleet. ( p. 17 ) . Naval institute imperativeness. Retrieved from hypertext transfer protocol: //books. Google. com/books? id=8MwyTX-iA2wC A ; pg=PA17 Shah. A. ( 2012 ) . World military disbursement. Global Issues. Retrieved from World Wide Web. globalissues. org/article/75/world-military-spending [ gt ; 0 ] U. S. Department of Defense. Office of Secretary of Defense. ( n. d. ) . Org chart. Retrieved from hypertext transfer protocol: //www. defence. gov/orgchart/ U. S. Department of Justice. ( 2001 ) . The president’s constitutional authorization to carry on military operations against terrorists and states back uping them. Retrieved from hypertext transfer protocol: //www. justness. gov/olc/warpowers925. htm U. S. Senate. ( n. d. ) . Official declarations of war by Congress. Retrieved from hypertext transfer protocol: //www. senate. gov/pagelayout/history/h_multi_sections_and_teasers/WarDeclarationsbyCongress. htm [ gt ; 0 ] – hypertext transfer protocol: //www. globalissues. org/article/75/world-military-spending