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Overview  

Representing the largest organization in the US federal government, the Department of Defense (DoD) is responsible for protecting the United States by providing for a national defense. DoD includes all four branches of the armed services - Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines - along with multiple sub-agencies that produce everything from weapons and supplies for military units to intelligence on foreign threats. Because of the Bush administration’s Global War on Terrorism (GWOT) campaign, DoD’s budget has ballooned to its highest levels ever. Implementing GWOT also resulted in multiple controversies for the department, which was led for most of this decade by a polarizing Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld.

 
History  

After winning its independence from England in the Revolutionary War, the United States government created the US Department of War in 1789, charged with organizing and maintaining the US Army to provide for the defense of the new republic. The Department of War, headed by the Secretary of War, was a cabinet level department under the command of the President that did not manage the Navy, which was transferred in 1798 to the US Department of the Navy.
 
During the 19th Century, the War Department supervised various military and non-military responsibilities ranging from the distribution of bounty land to pensions to Indian affairs to the Reconstruction of the South after the Civil War. The outbreak of war between the US and Spain in 1898 resulted in an expansion of the War Department’s powers, and following the conflict, the department was reorganized in 1903. The office of the commanding general of the Army was abolished, and the general staff corps was established to coordinate the Army under the direction of the chief of staff, who was charged with supervising the planning of national defense and with the mobilization of the military forces.
 
During World War I, the War Department was given supervision over the newly created National Guard, and under the National Defense Act of 1916, the officers’ reserve corps was created within the department. This act also established the office of Assistant Secretary of War to coordinate the procurement of munitions.
 
By 1941 the War Department had grown into a substantial work force in the Washington, DC, area, numbering more than 24,000 civilian and military personnel. Housed in 17 buildings, the department was expected to reach 30,000 by the beginning of 1942. At the same time the Quartermaster Corps’ Construction Division was struggling to cope with the vast mobilization of Army forces to fight in World War II. The federal government considered constructing temporary buildings to accommodate the growing needs of the War Department. Instead, Brigadier General Brehon B. Somervell, head of the construction division, proposed constructing a single massive building to house all War Department employees. Completed in 1943, the Pentagon was five stories in height and consisted of five concentric pentagons within an outer structure of reinforced concrete walls. Capable of housing 40,000 workers in four million square feet of space, the Pentagon also included a six-acre interior court and parking for 8,000 cars.
 
Building the Pentagon was just the beginning of the War Department’s challenges. Organizing the Army’s combat duties in the two-front war against Germany and Italy in Europe and Japan in the Pacific required the War Department to coordinate naval efforts with the Department of the Navy, all while mobilizing and training the largest increase is US Army history. Although the US achieved victory against the Axis powers, American policymakers felt the military didn’t always work effectively together in the split capacity between the War and Navy departments.
 
Believing that better coordination was necessary between the branches of the armed services, President Harry Truman signed the National Security Act of 1947 that created the National Military Establishment (NME). The act combined the Department of War and the Department of Navy into the new NME, headed by the Secretary of Defense. The act also established the Air Force, which until then had been a part of the US Army, as an independent service branch. All three service branches (Army, Navy, Air Force) reported directly to the Secretary of Defense, who was supported initially by three assistants. Today, the office of the Secretary of Defense employs 2,000, out of approximately 600,000 civilian employees who work for DoD.
 
The NME was renamed the Department of Defense (DoD) in 1949. In the succeeding years of the Cold War, DoD (commonly referred to as the Pentagon) grew into the largest of all US governmental institutions as American military operations became tantamount in US-Soviet jockeying for international dominance. The discovery of nuclear power during WWII resulted in an unprecedented arms build up by the US as American war planners poured billions of dollars into new generations of strategic nuclear weapons.
 
At first the focus was on long-range bombers. A new generation of jet-powered aircraft took over Air Force squadrons, most importantly the B-52 Stratofortress. Air wings comprised of B-52s, based both in the US and overseas, were set up on round-the-clock aerial missions to fly toward the Soviet Union until reaching a “fail safe” point at which they turned around unless given the “go codes” from Strategic Air Command (SAC), a key national military command under the authority of the Pentagon. The development of America’s nuclear weapons complex, along with maintaining a large standing Army, Navy and Air Force in preparation for World War III against the Soviet Union, resulted in the establishment of the “military industrial complex” during the 1950s. Coined by President Dwight Eisenhower, the military industrial complex represented a first-ever commitment to continual arms manufacturing, or procurement. DoD became the federal arm responsible for overseeing procurement of all conventional and nuclear weapons.
 
President John F. Kennedy contributed to the Pentagon’s appetite for new weapons when he followed up on his promise during the 1960 presidential campaign to eliminate the “missile gap” that supposedly existed between the US and the USSR. Under the leadership of Defense Secretary Robert S. McNamara, the US greatly expanded its arsenal of nuclear warheads as it developed Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs) capable of delivering multiple warheads at targets in the USSR and China. McNamara, an unconventional choice to head the Pentagon, was president of the Ford Motor Company when Kennedy asked him to join his cabinet. Although not a military expert, he immersed himself in defense issues and instituted a number of key changes to US military doctrine, including “flexible response.”
 
McNamara also implemented programs in counterinsurgency to combat Communist threats in foreign countries, which included creating the Defense Intelligence Agency and expanding Army commando units, called Special Forces, to conduct unconventional warfare. These counterinsurgency efforts were put to great use in the Vietnam War. US involvement in South Vietnam grew exponentially while McNamara led DoD. Military forces went from a few thousand “advisers” to hundreds of thousands of soldiers and Marines. McNamara approved controversial strategic bombing campaigns against North Vietnam and the use of chemical defoliants, such as Agent Orange.
 
Although he loyally supported administration policy, McNamara gradually became skeptical about whether the war could be won by deploying more troops to South Vietnam and intensifying the bombing of North Vietnam. He traveled to Vietnam many times to study the situation firsthand. He became increasingly reluctant to approve the large force increments requested by the military commanders. In 1967 he left the Pentagon to become the head of the World Bank.
 
The secretaries of defense that followed McNamara kept a lower profile. These included Melvin Laird, who served under President Richard Nixon, and Donald Rumsfeld, who served under President Gerald Ford as the youngest Secretary of Defense in departmental history. Unlike his second term as secretary under President George W. Bush, Rumsfeld’s time with Ford was not controversial. Rumsfeld’s tenure at the Pentagon was noted mostly for pushing forward new weapons programs intended to modernize America’s nuclear and conventional arsenals. The 1970s saw research-and-development projects evolve into deployable systems, such as the Navy’s F-14 Tomcat, the Air Force F-15 Eagle and the Army’s M1A Abrams tank.
 
Procurement programs reached new heights the following decade under President Ronald Reagan. Determined to restore America’s superiority on the world stage, Reagan instructed his defense secretary, Casper Weinberger, to embark on the most expensive arms buildup in the nation’s history, even though Weinberger’s pre-Defense reputation had been that of a budget trimmer. No longer was he “Cap the Knife,” for Weinberger shared the president’s conviction that the Soviet Union posed a serious threat and that the defense establishment needed to be modernized and strengthened. The secretary became a vigorous advocate of Reagan’s plan to increase the DoD budget, which approached $300 million during the 1980s, for everything from new aircraft carriers to controversial programs like the B-1 bomber and the MX missile.
 
Efforts to strength America’s military also had their embarrassments. The Sergeant York air-defense gun was supposed to give the Army greater protection from Soviet aircraft. Instead, the weapon became “a symbol of a procurement process gone haywire.” After the Pentagon spent $1.8 billion and ten years developing the tank-mounted, radar-guided gun, field tests showed that it had trouble hitting a hovering helicopter. Another program that proved expensive and troublesome was the B-1 bomber. The B-1 was especially costly due to design flaws that forced Air Force commanders to alter the mission of the plane. Originally purchased to replace the aging B-52, the B-1 was supposed to be able to fly at low altitude in order to penetrate Soviet air defenses. Military planners later realized that the high-tech bomber was vulnerable to such defenses, forcing the Air Force to abandon its plan of replacing the B-52, which continues to serve in USAF squadrons to this day.
 
Weinberger was also swept up in the greatest scandal of the Reagan era: Iran Contra. The Iran-Contra affair involved the secret sale of weapons to Iran in exchange for the release of American hostages held in Lebanon by pro-Iranian terrorists, and the diversion of money from that sale to provide support for anti-communist resistance fighters in Nicaragua known as the “Contras.” Weinberger was charged by independent counsel Lawrence Walsh with four counts of lying to congressional Iran-Contra investigators in 1987 and to Walsh’s prosecutors in 1990. His case involved allegations that he had concealed from Congressional investigators his personal notes that detailed events related to Iran-Contra and that reportedly undermined what President Reagan said about the origins and operations of the covert arms-for-hostages dealings. Weinberger pled not guilty and was ultimately pardoned by President George H.W. Bush in 1991 just before his case went to trial.
 
With the end of the Cold War, DoD became less of a priority during the two terms of President Bill Clinton, who placed less importance on defense spending and developing new weapons programs. In fact, the Pentagon’s budget shrunk during the decade as defense secretaries Les Aspin, William Perry and William Cohen spent more time determining what shape and role the US military should take in a post-Cold War world. Big budget programs designed to fight the Soviet military, such as the Seawolf attack submarine, were cut back dramatically. Instead, doctrines emphasizing rapid deployment of conventional forces were further developed to address smaller scale conflicts and threats, including the growing danger from terrorist organizations like al Qaeda.
 
This military approach to combating terrorism ballooned following the 9/11 terrorist attacks. President Bush’s secretary of defense, Rumsfeld, suddenly became the face of America’s tough new world posture designed to hunt down Osama bin Laden and others like him. A leader of the neocons, Rumsfeld and his chief deputy, Paul Wolfowitz, were key architects of the president’s Global War on Terrorism campaign, which included invading Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as planning attacks on Iran and North Korea. Rumsfeld also promoted enormous increases in the DoD budget that eclipsed those of the Reagan years, reaching upwards of half a trillion dollars.
 
Rumsfeld proved to be a lightning rod for controversy as he unabashedly championed the President’s no-holds-barred approach with terrorist suspects or their supporters. Scandals erupted involving detainment of terrorist suspects in off-shore military installations (Guantánamo Bay) and the torture of enemy combatants in Iraq (Abu Ghraib). Other hot-button issues involved the proper supplying of US troops in Afghanistan and Iraq and distortions of high-profile military rescues and deaths to conjure popular support for the war on terrorism.
 
After six stormy years at the Pentagon, President Bush asked Rumsfeld to resign following the 2006 election that saw Republicans lose control of Congress in a sweeping anti-war fervor by voters. Replacing Rumsfeld was former CIA director Robert Gates, who was brought in to devise a new strategy for the war in Iraq. Shortly after taking over, Gates ordered an increase in troop levels in Iraq - a move that had been resisted by the president but called for by some military commanders. The troop surge also went against sentiments expressed by voters and many Democrats in Congress who argued it was time to pull out from Iraq.
 
Son of the Sergeant York (by John S. Demott, Time)
The Iran-Contra Affair (by Julie Wolf, PBS American Experience)

Honoring Those who Fought and Died in Iraq and Afghanistan

 
What it Does  

Representing the largest organization in the US federal government today, with an annual budget of half a trillion dollars, the Department of Defense (DoD) is responsible for maintaining the national defense of the United States. DoD includes all four branches of the armed services - Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines - along with multiple sub-agencies that produce everything from weapons and supplies for military units to intelligence on foreign threats.
 
While DoD operations and offices are located across the country, and the armed services operate in many parts of the world, the Defense Department is primarily centered at the Pentagon, one of the largest building ever constructed. In order to operate effectively (although not necessarily efficiently, critics would argue), DoD maintains a complex organizational structure (PDF) that segments the hundreds of tasks that are performed both on a day-to-day basis and for long-term strategic planning.
 
DoD is led by the Secretary of Defense, a cabinet-level position appointed by the President and subject to confirmation by the US Senate. The Secretary of Defense is assisted by a variety of under secretaries and assistant secretaries who manage specific functions. These include:
o   Director of Defense Research and Engineering
o   Deputy Under Secretary of Defense (Acquisition and Technology)
o   Deputy Under Secretary of Defense (Logistics and Materiel Readiness)
o   Assistant to the Secretary of Defense (Nuclear and Chemical and Biological Defense Programs)
o   Director of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization
o   Deputy Under Secretary of Defense (Acquisition Reform)
o   Deputy Under Secretary of Defense (Advanced Systems and Concepts)
o   Deputy Under Secretary of Defense (Environmental Security)
o   Deputy Under Secretary of Defense (Industrial Affairs)
o   Deputy Under Secretary of Defense (Installations)
o   Deputy Under Secretary of Defense (Science and Technology)
o   Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller)
o   Director for Program Analysis and Evaluation
o   Assistant Secretary of Defense (Force Management Policy)
o   Assistant Secretary of Defense (Health Affairs)
o   Assistant Secretary of Defense (Reserve Affairs)
o   Deputy Under Secretary of Defense (Readiness)
o   Deputy Under Secretary of Defense (Program Integration)
o   Deputy Under Secretary of Defense (Planning)
o   Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense (Policy)
o   Assistant Secretary of Defense (International Security Affairs)
o   Assistant Secretary of Defense (Strategy and Threat Reduction)
o   Assistant Secretary of Defense (Special Operations and Low-Intensity Conflict)
o   Deputy Under Secretary of Defense (Policy Support)
o   Deputy Under Secretary of Defense (Technology Security Policy)
o   Defense Advisor, U.S. Mission NATO
 
Thanks to the Bush administration’s Global War on Terrorism campaign, which includes ongoing military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, DoD’s budget has ballooned this decade to its highest levels ever. However, it must be noted that the annual budget appropriation for DoD often does not include emergency spending bills (called supplementals) approved by Congress after the regular budget has been approved. It is estimated that the military invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq have cost $500 billion since 2001, much of which has been authorized through supplementals.
 
The budget for DoD in FY 2008 was $480 billion. Some of the key defense activities to receive a portion of this money are:
 
Fighting Forces
The United States Army’s mission is to provide ground forces for American military operations and wars. Combat forces generally consist of foot soldiers, or infantry, or soldiers who man tanks and artillery that make up armored units. Other Army personnel provide a variety of support duties, from engineering to medical care to fuel and food. The Army employs a vast array of weapons and equipment as part of its military operations. Examples of its military hardware include aircraft, air defense artillery, anti-armor weapons, indirect fire systems, individual & crew-served weapons & equipment, nuclear, biological, chemical defense equipment, tracked vehicles and wheeled vehicles. Army forces deployed overseas currently number about 256,000.
 
The Navy Department oversees both the US Navy and the Marine Corps. The Navy represents the seagoing branch of the armed services, maintaining fleets of ocean-going surface vessels and submarines capable of extending American sea and air power anywhere in the world. Naval vessels fall into one of seven classes: aircraft carriers; amphibious assault ships; battleships; cruisers; destroyers; frigates; and submarines. Battleships, cruisers and destroyers have an assortment of guns and missile systems, while aircraft carriers carry both fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft.
 
Located under the authority of the Department of the Navy, the Marine Corps serves as a land and air “force in readiness” capable of supporting US military operations and executing national political objectives. Since the late 19th Century, Marines have been used by the US government to execute foreign policy objectives and protect American interests overseas. USMC forces have been at the center of major wars and key military operations, garnering them a reputation as an elite fighting force.
 
The US Air Force (USAF) constitutes the aviation component of the Armed Services, providing tactical, strategic and logistical air support for US military operations. USAF also is charged with operational command of US nuclear forces. Some of the most advanced weapons systems in the US military have been developed for the Air Force, often at great costs and involving much controversy.
 
Located at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, FL, the US Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) oversees all Special Operations Forces (SOF) in the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps. Special Operations soldiers are specially trained, equipped and organized to carry out strategic or tactical missions during periods of war and peace. The units continually train to conduct unconventional warfare in any of its forms, such as guerrilla warfare, special reconnaissance, evasion and escape, subversion and sabotage. During the Bush administration, SOF missions have expanded in size and importance as part of the Global War on Terrorism campaign.
 
Administered by the National Guard Bureau (a joint bureau of the departments of the Army and Air Force), the National Guard consists of both the Army National Guard (ARNG) and the Air National Guard (ANG). The National Guard has both a federal and state mission involving combat and non-combat army and air force units. Throughout its long history, Guard army units have been deployed overseas to fight in America’s wars, including the recent Global War on Terrorism (GWOT) campaign waged by the Bush administration. The National Guard is also charged with assisting state governments during times of natural disasters. However, some state National Guards have reportedly found themselves stretched too thin from overseas deployments of men and equipment to Iraq and Afghanistan, which has prevented Guard units from adequately responding to state emergences.
 
Spying and Intelligence Gathering
The Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) is both a major producer and manager of military intelligence for the Department of Defense. Approximately 11,000 men and women work for DIA worldwide (about 30% military personnel and 70% civilian personnel). The exact numbers and specific budget information are not publicly released due to security considerations.
 
One of the most secretive agencies in the federal government, the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) launches the nation’s military spy satellites. NRO takes orders from both the Secretary of Defense and the Director of National Intelligence and is funded through the National Reconnaissance Program, part of the National Foreign Intelligence Program. The agency shares its top secret data not only with military planners, but also members of the Intelligence Community. At one time, NRO’s technical sophistication was highly regarded, but after a series of blunders in recent years, the agency’s reputation has plummeted.
 
The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) collects, processes and dispenses satellite imagery for national security purposes. This imagery is used to depict the planet’s physical features or activities that are being monitored by the intelligence community. The agency also supports combat troops with tactical data, such as targeting information for precision bombing.
 
A highly secret office located within DoD, the Counterintelligence Field Activity (CIFA) is charged with protecting US military personnel and facilities against spying and acts of terrorism. Information regarding CIFA’s budget and number of personnel is classified. CIFA’s primary mission is to identify and track down suspected terrorists. In 2005 news reports revealed that CIFA had been spying on peace activists and Iraq war protesters and was implicated in the bribery scandal of former Congressman Randy “Duke” Cunningham.
 
Weapons Development and Sales
The purpose of the Missile Defense Agency is to develop and field a Ballistic Missile Defense System (BMDS) to defend the United States, its military forces, friends and allies against ballistic missile attacks. For five decades, engineers have been developing and testing variations of a missile defense to protect US cities from nuclear combat. Current programs being researched and tested include Ground-Based Interceptors, Theater High Altitude Area Defense, Kinetic Energy Interceptor and Multiple Kill Vehicle Program.
 
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is a unique research organization established to maintain the US military’s technological preeminence. Essentially, it’s the intellectual sandbox of the Defense Department, freed from many of the constraints imposed on other agencies so it can pursue riskier, more innovative research. Over the years, DARPA has helped develop technologies that have also worked their way into the civilian world, including the forerunner of the Internet. Some of its efforts have also been controversial.
 
The goal of the Defense Threat Reduction Agency is to reduce the threat of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) to the United States by either eliminating foreign stockpiles or mitigating their risk to the US and its allies. Much of its work is done cooperatively with foreign nations, such as the mutual examination of nuclear stockpiles, and the dismantling of weapons and equipment of formerly hostile nations in accordance with treaties like START I. The agency also develops countermeasures against novel threats, both for domestic use and for combat support. 
 
The Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) facilitates the sale of US weapons to other countries. Working with agencies in DoD and the State Department, DSCA provides financing, resources and/or contractors for the sale of arms, defense technologies, training and other services overseas. The agency’s work has contributed to the controversial proliferation of arms and military training to non-democratic, oppressive governments.
 
Partly run by the Department of Defense, the Technical Support Working Group (TSWG) is a low-profile multi-federal-agency program with a highly important mission. Working with a vast array of US government departments and agencies, TSWG helps to rapidly develop the latest in technological solutions to combat terrorism. “Rapid” is a key word in TSWG’s mission, as it is expected to fund projects that can be ready for use by law enforcement, military and other government personnel in two years or less from time of first approval.
 
 
Training
Referred to as the “intellectual center of the army,” the US Army Combined Arms Center oversees the operation of 33 schools and training centers, each of which is responsible for teaching specific skills to Army personnel and members of other armed services. The US Army has a long history of providing specialized training to its soldiers, going all the way back to the Revolutionary War. In recent times some elements of the CAC have drawn public attention for reports and internal debates over the Bush administration’s handling of the Iraq war.
 
The Command and General Staff College is a graduate school for US military and foreign military leaders at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. It is the Army’s senior tactical school and introduces officers to operational and strategic warfare. The college has five subordinate schools. Its main purpose is to synchronize Army leader development and education systems but works as a joint, interagency, multinational school.
 
The International Military Education and Training (IMET) program provides funding to train military and civilian leaders of foreign countries, primarily at schools and facilities in the US. IMET is implemented by the Department of Defense’ Defense Security Cooperation Agency, but funded by the State Department through the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961. IMET has grown considerably during the administration of George W. Bush, from a budget of $50 million in FY 2000 to $85 million in FY 2008, a 70% increase. IMET has a long, controversial history of helping to train foreign military personnel who went on to commit human rights abuses in their home countries. Another, more recent controversial decision involving IMET stems from a Bush administration policy change to provide military training to one of America’s most notorious enemies: the dictator of Libya, Muammar al-Qaddafi.
 
Formerly known as the School of the Americas, the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation has long been the most controversial training center run by the US military. Throughout the Cold War, the school helped train thousands of military personnel from Latin American countries. Some of these graduates went on to commit human rights abuses and other atrocities in their home countries.
 
Logistics
The largest agency within the Department of Defense, the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) provides support as well as technical and logistic services to the Army, Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps and several federal agencies. DLA has supported every war in the past four decades, from the Vietnam War to the Operation Iraqi Freedom. It is in charge of almost every consumable item, everything from combat readiness, emergency preparedness and day-to-day operations inside DOD.
 
More than just a wing of the US Army, the Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) has been a leading designer and builder of water projects across the United States since the early 20th Century. Corps engineers have been responsible for key flood control systems, including numerous dams, in the Western US and other regions. Known for its skill and expertise, the USACE’s reputation took a hit following Hurricane Katrina’s devastation of New Orleans after investigations showed faulty work by Corps engineers on key levies protecting the city.
 
Providing global information and technology assistance through online services, the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) helps US military forces communicate with one another, pull information needed for their missions and receive accurate and protected information on any threats they may face. DISA focuses on delivery of information speed, operational effectiveness and efficiency, and sharing information. Its primary aim is to provide secure and reliable communications networks, computers, software, databases, applications and other products needed for the processing and transport needs of DoD.
 
Money Management
One of DoD’s most critical offices, the Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA) oversees the purchase of high-priced weapons systems. DCMA is responsible for hundreds of thousands of contracts that have a collective value of $1.812 trillion. DCMA is the Pentagon’s contract manager, responsible for ensuring that federal acquisition programs (systems, supplies, and services) are delivered on time, within projected cost or price, and meet performance requirements.
 
The Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA) independently investigates Pentagon contracts to determine the fairness, accuracy and completeness of financial records and reports, as well as the effectiveness of any transactions DoD has made. In other words, the DCAA reviews business deals to make sure everything is aboveboard and acceptably efficient. The agency also provides financial advice to the Department of Defense at every step of the contracting or subcontracting process, from negotiation to final resolution.
 
The world’s largest finance and accounting operation, the Defense Finance and Accounting Services (DFAS) supports the principal advisor to the Secretary of Defense for budgetary and fiscal matters. The agency is responsible for coordination and collaboration with all civilian defense agencies, military services and combatant commands. The agency provides services primarily for military men and women, including processing military, civilian, retiree, travel and contract/vendor pay and managing military health care and benefits.
 
The Office of Economic Adjustment (OEA) is responsible for managing and directing efforts to assist communities impacted by Defense program changes, including base closures, base expansions and contract or program cancellations, and for coordinating involvement of other federal agencies in the process. 
 
Criminal Investigation
DoD’s Office of Inspector General (DoDIG) serves as a watchdog for the department. The DoDIG is supposed to operate independently of the department to prevent and detect fraud, waste and abuse through audits and investigations. The Inspector General is in charge of keeping the Secretary of Defense and Congress informed about agency problems and deficiencies.
 
The Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS) functions as the criminal investigative arm of the DoD Inspector General. DCIS investigates criminal activities involving terrorism, procurement fraud, computer crimes, illegal technology transfers and public corruption within the Department of Defense.
 
Other
The American Forces Information Service serves as DoD’s public relations and information provider. It creates press releases through a news service and sets policy for internal publications, visual information and audiovisual programs. The AFIS also produces media aimed at service members and their families. Some critics have accused AFIS of deception by, for example, releasing press releases that mimic the style of actual news reports.
 
The nation’s most prestigious military cemetery, Arlington National Cemetery is also one of the oldest national cemeteries in the US. More than 310,000 people, including military casualties and veterans from every single U.S. war - from the American Revolution through US interventions in Afghanistan and Iraq - are buried at Arlington. The cemetery is also the final resting place of many notable civilian, historical, literary and minority figures, including former President John F. Kennedy.

 

 
Where Does the Money Go  

The Department of Defense would not be the costly operation it is today without private defense contractors. Covering army-, navy- and air force-related industries, defense contractors provide everything from combat boots to some of the most advanced, sophisticated technology on the planet. Large weapons systems have price tags that run into the tens of billions of dollars, making the arms trade extremely lucrative for certain companies.
 
According USAspending.gov, in FY 2007 79,087 different companies received Department of Defense contracts totaling $312 billion.  However, the top six companies - Lockheed Martin ($28 billion), Boeing ($22 billion), Northrop Grumman ($15 billion), General Dynamics ($13 billion), Raytheon ($11 billion) and BAE Systems ($9 billion) - received almost one third of that money.
 
Other top contractors include KBR, Inc. ($5 billion), a subsidiary of Halliburton until 2007, General Electric ($2.5 billion), Royal Dutch Shell ($2 billion), Electronic Data Systems ($2 billion), Honeywell International ($1.6 billion) and Bechtel ($1.3 billion).
Some examples of the equipment that this money bought are as follows:
Lockheed Martin
F-22 fighter (shared with Boeing)
Aegis Weapons System for US Navy combat vessels
F/A-18 Hornet strike fighter (Boeing, originally McDonnell Douglas)
Hellfire Missile (shared with Boeing)
Littoral Combat Ships (shared with General Dynamics)
C-5 transport plane
C-130 transport plane
F-16 fighter
 
Boeing
F-22 fighter (shared with Lockheed Martin)
Hellfire Missile (shared with Lockheed Martin)
B-1 bomber
B-52 bomber
C-17 transport plane
F-15 fighter (Boeing, from McDonnell Douglas)
KC-135 tanker
 
Northrop Grumman
Virginia class attack submarine (shared with General Dynamics)
B-2 bomber (along with Boeing, Hughes Radar Systems Group, General Electric Aircraft Engine Group and Vought Aircraft Industries, Inc.)
 
General Dynamics
Virginia class attack submarine (shared with Northrop Grumman)
Littoral Combat Ships (shared with Lockheed Martin)
 
BAE Systems
 
Raytheon
 
United Technologies
 
Bell Helicopter Textron
 
In March 2008 the Marine Corps announced contracts with several different companies for a new type of armored vehicle capable of withstanding attacks involving improvised explosive devices (IEDs). The IED has been the most lethal weapon used by guerilla fighters in Iraq, accounting for almost 70% of all casualties suffered by American military forces. Instead of relying on Humvees, the Marine Corps will deploy Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles, designed to withstand small arms fire, IEDs and other explosive threats. (see Controversies)
 
The Army also utilizes contractors to provide a variety of logistics and other services. A one-time subsidiary of Halliburton, long known as an oil services provider with strong ties to the Bush administration, was until 2006 providing soldiers with food, shelter and communications with friends and family back home through a billion-dollar exclusive-rights contract (see Department of the Army, Controversies).
 
The company that the Air Force chooses to build a new plane can be quite controversial. Take for example the task of midair refueling. For decades the Air Force used Boeing’s KC-135 (a rendition of the old 707 commercial jet) to refuel Air Force fighter and bombers on long missions. But with the aircraft reaching its service limits due to age, the Air Force tried to lease a modified version of Boeing’s 767 to replace the KC-135. The deal fell apart after accusations arose over costs and ethical violations (see Department of the Air Force, Controversies).
 
Benefits

Managed by the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, the

Military Retirement Fund

(PDF) is part of DoD’s Military Retirement System. The fund receives approximately $40 billion annually. Also part of the retirement system is the Retiree Health Care fund ($22 billion+,) which pays for Medicare benefits for military-eligible members. The Defense Department provides funding as well for educational benefits (about $327 million) for eligible DoD employees.

 
Controversies  

Weapons Procurement Waste and Corruption
In March 2008 the Government Accountability Office released a scathing report on the status of numerous weapons projects being developed for the Pentagon. Government auditors found programs for new ships, aircraft and satellites were billions of dollars over budget and years behind schedule.
 
Among the major programs reviewed was Lockheed Martin’s F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, a stealthy tactical fighter intended for the Air Force and Navy. Cost projections put the price tag at almost $100 million per plane, up 40% since 2001. In a statement, Lockheed said that the Joint Strike Fighter was “performing solidly, making outstanding technical progress in the context of the most complex aircraft ever built” and that “the bedrock and the cornerstone” of the F-35 program have been “affordability and cost containment.”
 
Another project singled out was the Navy’s $5.2 billion Littoral Combat Ship, which experienced so many cost overruns that the service expected the price of its first two ships to exceed their combined budget of $472 million by more than 100%. The Navy canceled construction of the planned third and fourth ships by Lockheed Martin and General Dynamics, the prime contractors on the project.
 
In another case, the initial contract target price of Boeing’s program to modernize avionics in the C-130 cargo plane was expected to skyrocket 323%, to $2 billion.
 
The GAO report said the reasons for the cost overruns and delays were threefold: Too many programs chasing too few dollars; technologies not mature enough to go into production; too long to design, develop and produce a system.
 
“They’re asking for something that they’re not sure can be built, given existing technologies, and that’s risky,” said a GAO official.
 
Torture at Abu Ghraib
Once US military forces toppled the government of Saddam Hussein in 2003, the Army took control of one of the legendary dictator’s infamous prisons: Abu Ghraib. The prison occupied 280 acres with over 4 kilometers of security perimeter and 24 guard towers, making it a virtual city within a city. Abu Ghraib was where Saddam Kamal (head of the Special Security Organization) oversaw the torture and execution of thousands of political prisoners during the reign of Saddam Hussein. As many as 4,000 prisoners were executed by Iraqi security personnel at Abu Ghraib Prison in 1984 alone.
 
In late April 2004, with the prison under the control of the US military, photographs surfaced that depicted abuse and torture of Iraqi prisoners held at the prison. Some of the pictures depicted US soldiers, both men and women in military uniforms, laughing and giving thumbs-up signs while posing with naked Iraqi prisoners made to stand, stacked in a pyramid or positioned to perform sex acts.
 
It turned out that a criminal investigation by the US Army Criminal Investigation Command had already been underway since 2003 to look into allegations of prisoner abuse by the 320th MP Battalion. The findings of that investigation were revealed in the Taguba Report, which found that between October and December 2003, there were numerous instances of “sadistic, blatant, and wanton criminal abuses” at Abu Ghraib. The systematic and illegal abuse of detainees was perpetrated by soldiers of the 372nd Military Police Company and also by members of the American intelligence community. (The 372nd was attached to the 320th MP Battalion).
 
Some of the wrongdoing included breaking chemical lights and pouring phosphoric liquid on detainees; pouring cold water on naked detainees; beating detainees with a broom handle and a chair; threatening male detainees with rape; allowing a military police guard to stitch the wound of a detainee who was injured after being slammed against the wall in his cell; sodomizing a detainee with a chemical light and perhaps a broom stick and using military working dogs to frighten and intimidate detainees with threats of attack.
 
The report also contained information about private contractors who were supervising interrogations in the prison. One civilian contractor was accused of raping a young male prisoner but was not charged because military law had no jurisdiction over him. The investigation named CACI International Inc. and the Titan Corporation in the scandal.
 
A year later, more disturbing revelations surfaced about Army doctors and the medical care system at Abu Ghraib. Some military doctors helped inflict distress on prisoners, while amputations were performed by non-doctors and chest tubes recycled from the dead to the living.
 
The fallout from the scandal resulted in the removal of 17 soldiers and officers from duty, and seven soldiers were charged with dereliction of duty, maltreatment, aggravated assault and battery. Between May 2004 and September 2005, the seven soldiers were convicted in courts martial, sentenced to federal prison, and dishonorably discharged from service. Two soldiers, Specialist Charles Graner, and his former fiancée, Specialist Lynndie England, were sentenced to 10 years and three years in prison, respectively. The commanding officer at the prison, Brigadier General Janis Karpinski, was demoted to the rank of colonel, all the while claiming that superiors in the chain of command knew and approved of the illegal behavior.
Abu Ghurayb Prison (Global Security)
The Abu Ghraib Prison Photos (Australia's Special Broadcasting Service TV)
 
Pat Tillman Cover Up
Following the 9/11 attacks, NFL star Pat Tillman did the unheard of. He walked away from a million-dollar career playing pro football in order to enlist in the Army. Wanting to fight al Qaeda and capture its leader, Osama Bin Laden, Pat wound up serving in the Army Rangers along with his brother, Kevin.
 
Pat Tillman’s enlistment grabbed the attention of the nation - and the highest levels of the Bush administration. A personal letter from Secretary Rumsfeld thanked Tillman for serving his country. Instead of going to Afghanistan, as the brothers expected, their Ranger battalion was sent to participate in the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003. The Tillmans saw combat several times on their way to Baghdad. In early 2004, they finally were assigned to Afghanistan.
 
On April 22, 2004, the Tillmans’ Ranger company was searching for Taliban and al Qaeda fighters in a village called Manah when one of their Humvees became disabled. The unit proceeded to split up, and during an ensuing firefight with Taliban fighters, Pat Tillman was killed. Tillman’s death came at a sensitive time for the Bush administration - just a week before the Army’s abuse of prisoners at Abu Ghraib in Iraq became public and sparked a huge scandal. The Pentagon immediately announced that Tillman had died heroically in combat with the enemy, and President Bush hailed him as “an inspiration on and off the football field, as with all who made the ultimate sacrifice in the war on terror.”
 
His killing was widely reported by the media, including conservative commentators such as Ann Coulter, who called him “an American original - virtuous, pure and masculine like only an American male can be.” His May 3, 2004, memorial in San Jose drew 3,500 people and was nationally televised.
 
Not until five weeks later, as Tillman’s battalion was returning home, did officials inform the public and the Tillman family that he had been killed accidentally by his fellow soldiers in a case of “friendly fire.” The Tillman family was outraged and sought the help of US Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) to find out why they had not been told the truth sooner about Pat’s death. A House committee investigated the matter, and eventually the Army censured a three-star general, Lt. Gen. Philip R. Kensinger Jr., for failing to follow procedures requiring him to notify the Tillman family and top officials about the investigation into the possibility of friendly fire. Some critics contended Kensinger was merely a scapegoat to avoid those higher up in the chain of command from being implicated in the scandal, including Rumsfeld.
Retired General Is Censured for Role in Tillman Case (by Neil A. Lewis, New York Times)
 
Unprepared to Protect Soldiers and Humvees from IEDs
Once US forces had defeated the Iraqi military and assumed control of Iraq in 2003, the Pentagon believed the worst of its troubles were over. Little did military planners realize that American casualties not only would continue to mount, but that they would increase at an even higher pace than when soldiers were fighting a full-scale war.
 
Shortly after President Bush declared an end to the fighting, Iraqi guerilla fighters began attacking US combat troops with homemade bombs, or IEDs (improvised explosive devices). The IEDs proved to be especially dangerous to troops riding in Humvees, a vehicle widely used to transport troops. Lacking an armored body, the vehicle became a coffin for American soldiers caught inside when an IED exploded beneath or next to the Humvee.
 
Soon stories began appearing in American papers about the vulnerability of the Humvee, and how American troops were scavenging parts from other vehicles to fortify their Humvees with “hillbilly armor” because the Pentagon was slow to respond to the problem. Defense Secretary Rumsfeld claimed his department was doing everything it could to address the problem, but that the manufacturers of the Humvee couldn’t produce modified versions of the vehicle any faster. Not true, said the company, AM General, pointing out that they could increase production if the Pentagon wanted them to.
 
Even when reinforced Humvees arrived in Iraq, another problem arose. The heavily-armored vehicles couldn’t maneuver effectively and were prone to tipping over at certain speeds. In addition, its heavier doors trapped soldiers ins