Secretary Defense facts
While investigating facts about Secretary Defense Us and Secretary Defense Usa, I found out little known, but curios details like:
There was an armed interceptor version of the SR-71 called the YF-12. It was the largest manned interceptor ever made, and held several world records for speed and altitude. It was cancelled after the secretary of defense held funding so it could be spent in the Vietnam war.
how much does the secretary of defense make?
Top Gun's Charlie was based on Christine Fox, a mathematician who worked at the Center for Naval Analyses, just accross the street from the Navy's Topgun School. In 2013 she became the Defense Department's acting Deputy Secretary, making her the highest ranking female in the DoD's history
What is the secretary of defense?
In my opinion, it is useful to put together a list of the most interesting details from trusted sources that I've come across answering what is the primary responsibility of the secretary of defense. Here are 50 of the best facts about Secretary Defense Fairchild and Secretary Defense 1952 I managed to collect.
what does the secretary of defense do?
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Donald Rumsfeld was Secretary of Defence twice, first at the age of 43 and again at 69. This makes him both the youngest and oldest person to serve as Secretary of Defense.
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On September 10, 2001, US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld announced that the Pentagon had wasted or misplaced up to $2.3 trillion, or $8,000 for every man, woman, and child in the country, and promised to go after the unchecked Pentagon bureaucracy
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In 1962, US Defense Secretary Robert McNamara ordered every nuclear weapon locked with numerical codes. Irritated by the restriction, Strategic Air Command set all the codes to strings of zeros. The Defense Department didn't learn of the subterfuge until 1977.
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Charlie" from Top Gun was inspired by a woman who eventually became Deputy Secretary of Defense and was the highest-ranking woman ever to work in The Pentagon.
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In 1972, an unknown artist spotted Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara on a ferry headed to Martha's Vineyard. He told McNamara he had a phone call, led him to the side of the boat and nearly succeeded in throwing McNamara overboard.
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Secretary of Defense in 1949 Louis Johnson announced Armed Forces Day on August 31st, 1949, and President Truman proclaimed the first Armed Forces Day on February 27th, 1950 to be observed on May 20th that year.
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Today the Pentagon houses offices for the United States Air Force, Marine Corps, Navy, Army, and the Office of the Secretary of Defense.
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James Scheslinger, the Secretary Of Defense under Richard Nixon during Watergate, ordered the Joint Chiefs Of Staff to ignore any military initiatives from the White House without Schlesinger's signature.
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Donald Rumsfeld was in the Pentagon when it was hit by American Airlines Flight 77 on 9/11. He rushed down to the crash site to inspect the damage and, as Secretary of Defense, was out of contact for 20 minutes while America was being attacked.
Why is the secretary of defense a civilian?
You can easily fact check why did acting secretary of defense resign by examining the linked well-known sources.
Under the "National Command Authority" the president and secretary of defense can deploy Nuclear Weapons if they both agree. If the secretary disagrees, the president can "fire" them.
In order to ensure civilian control of the military, an individual may not be appointed as the U.S. Secretary of Defense until seven years after they leave active duty service. - source
Colin Powell served at Fort Carlson, Colorado in the early 1980s and then went on to become Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger's senior military assistant.
President Harry S. Truman signed the National Security Act into law on July 26th, 1947, which joined four military branches. It essentially combined the Army, Navy, Marine Corp and Air Force under the Secretary of Defense's authority.
In the days before Nixon's resignation, the Secretary of Defense was so worried that Nixon was unstable that he ordered the military not to react to White House orders unless the Sec of State or himself were consulted first. - source
When was the secretary of defense created?
For most of its history, the Pentagon had only one passenger elevator, which the Secretary of Defense used to get from the parking garage to his office. Since renovation, there are now more.
How to become secretary of defense?
President Johnson often maligned Secretary of Defense, Robert McNamara, was the architect of the report.
Robert Gates former Director of Central Intelligence and Secretary of Defense is now president of the Boy Scouts.
Donald Rumsfeld was both the youngest and the oldest U.S. Secretary of Defense!
In 1972 someone tried to throw former Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara off a ferry to Martha's Vineyard. The attacker said he "just wanted to confront (McNamara) on Vietnam".
As late as 2001, the Director of the FBI did not have a computer in his office, while the US Secretary of Defense would have his assistant print out e-mails to him, write his response in pen, and then have the assistant type them back in.