Military - Weapons - General & Miscellaneous, Military - Strategy, General & Miscellaneous - Politics & Government, Arms Control & Disarmament
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Overview
The history of the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD), since its inception, is also the history of the development of capabilities necessary to control and implement strategy in the Department of Defense (DoD). James Forrestal, who served as the first Secretary of Defense (SecDef), recognized that the SecDef needed more power to impose discipline on the military services. Since then OSD has sought to implement greater control while the Services have fought to maintain their independence. The Defense Act of 1958 gave the SecDef control over the allocation of resources among the Services for the first time, effectively transforming him from a mere arbiter into a decisionmaker. However, it was not until the SecDef decided to exercise this new authority and implement the management processes to facilitate it, that we saw the emergence of the SecDef office as we recognize it today. Robert McNamara was not the first to have these powers, but he served long enough, had the support of the President, and also possessed enough willpower to grapple with the issues while also attempting to impose discipline in the process.Book Details
Published
October 23, 2012
Publisher
BiblioGov
Pages
134
Format
Paperback
ISBN
9781249915928