United States. Dept. of Defense

Photo United States. Dept. of Defense
The United States Department of Defense (DOD or DoD) is the federal department charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government relating directly to national security and the military. The organization and functions of the DOD are set forth in Title 10 of the United States Code. The DOD is the major tenant of The Pentagon building near Washington, D.C., and has three major components – the Department of the Army, the Department of the Navy, and the Department of the Air Force. Among the many DOD agencies are the Missile Defense Agency, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the Pentagon Force Protection Agency (PFPA), the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), and the National Security Agency (NSA). The department also operates several joint service schools, including the National War College. The Department includes the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, as well as non-combat agencies such as the National Security Agency and the Defense Intelligence Agency. The DoD's annual budget was roughly $786 billion in 2007.[2] This figure does not include tens of billions more in supplemental expenditures allotted by Congress throughout the year, particularly for the war in Iraq. It also does not include expenditures by the Department of Energy on nuclear weapons design and testing. Civilian control over matters other than operations is exercised through the three service departments, the Department of the Army, the Department of the Navy (which includes the Marine Corps), and the Department of the Air Force. Each is led by a service secretary, who are below Cabinet rank. In wartime, the Department of Defense has authority over the Coast Guard; in peacetime, that agency is under the control of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Prior to the creation of DHS, the Coast Guard was under the control of the Department of Transportation and earlier under the Department of the Treasury. According to the U.S. Code, the Coast Guard is at all times considered one of the five armed services of the United States. During times of declared war (or by Congressional direction), the Coast Guard operates as a part of the Navy; the service has not been under the auspices of Navy since World War II, but members have served in the undeclared wars and conflicts since then while the service remained in its peacetime department. The Pentagon, in Arlington County, Virginia, across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C., is the headquarters of the Department of Defense. The Department of Defense is protected by the Pentagon Force Protection Agency which ensures law enforcement and security for The Pentagon and various other jurisdictions throughout the National Capital Region (NCR). President of the United States is the Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. military, though in that position he is a civilian and not a member of the military. The command structure of the Department of Defense is defined by the Goldwater-Nichols Act of 1986 (PL 99-433), signed into law by President Ronald Reagan on 1 October 1986. The Act reworked the command structure of the United States military, introducing the most sweeping changes to the Department since it was established in the National Security Act of 1947. Under the act, the chain of command runs from the President of the United States, through the Secretary of Defense, to the combatant commanders (COCOM) who command all military forces within their area of responsibility. The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the service Chiefs of Staff are responsible for readiness of the U.S. military and serve as the President's military advisers, but are not in the chain of command. The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is by law the highest ranking military officer in the United States. Each service is responsible for organizing, training and equipping military units for the commanders of the various Unified Combatant Commands. United States Secretary of Defense The United States Naval Observatory falls under the Chief of Naval Operations. In 2003, the National Communications System was moved to the Department of Homeland Security, but only for executive purposes. The National Communications System still centralizes its activities within the Department of Defense, since the human resources required by NCS (example: Military Departments) still reside within the Department of Defense, or for retention of practical maintenance. There are ten Unified Combatant Commands; six regional and four functional. United States Africa Command became initially operational in October 2007. In 2007, a new geographical command for Africa was authorized. This proposed significant changes to the areas of responsibility for other adjacent geographical commands as shown in the accompanying graphic. The United States Department of Defense expenditures for fiscal year 2009 are $651.2 billion. This does not take into account military spending outside of the Department of Defense, which when included increases the figure to between $859 billion and $1.16 trillion. The United States and its closest allies are responsible for approximately two-thirds of global military spending (of which, in turn, the U.S. is responsible for the vast majority). Department of Defense spending accounts for 21% of the United States' federal budget, and approximately half of its federal discretionary spending, which comprises all of the U.S. government's money not accounted for by pre-existing obligations.[5][3] However, in terms of per capita spending, the U.S. ranks third behind Israel and Singapore[4]. According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, in 2003 the United States spent approximately 47% of the world's total military spending of US $956,000,000,000. As a percentage of its GDP, the United States spent 4.06% on military in the year 2000, ranking it 28th in the world. This was higher than France's 2.6%, and lower than Saudi Arabia's 10%[5]. Also, since it is an all-volunteer force and since most jobs within it require high degrees of technical skill and personnel retention, the United States armed forces have dramatically higher personnel costs, both military and civilian, compared to the militaries of countries which use conscription, many of which have far more troops than the United States. However, only China has more standing troops than the United States. DoD's Energy Conservation Investment Program (ECIP) improves the energy and water efficiency of existing Military Services' facilities. The program's projects help the Military Services save on energy usage and cost. [6]. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 provided $120 million for the ECIP. Also the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 has given money for the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, Army Reserve, Navy Reserve, Marine Corps Reserve, Air Force Reserve, Army National Guard and Air National Guard facilities to invest in energy efficiency. The Department of Defense uses 4.6 billion gallons of fuel annually, or an average of 12.6 million gallons of fuel per day. A large Army division may use about 6,000 gallons per day. According to the 2005 CIA World Factbook, the DoD would rank 34th in the world in average daily oil use, coming in just behind Iraq and just ahead of Sweden.[7] In FY 2006, the DoD used almost 30,000 gigawatt hours (GWH) of electricity, at a cost of almost $2.2 billion. The DoD's electricity use would supply enough electricity to power more than 2.6 million average American homes. In electricity consumption, the DOD would rank 58th in the world, using slightly less than Denmark and slightly more than Syria (CIA World Factbook, 2006).[8] The DoD uses 93% of all US government fuel consumption (Air Force: 52%; Navy: 33%; Army: 7%. Other DoD: 1%).[8] The Air Force is the largest user of fuel energy in the federal government. The Air Force uses 10% of the nation's aviation fuel (JP-8 accounts for nearly 90% of Air Force fuels. This fuel usage breaks down as such: 82% jet fuel, 16% facility management and 2% ground vehicle/equipment.[9] To meet renewable energy goals, it plans to certify its entire fleet on coal-to-liquid synthetic fuel blends by 2011. By 2016, it plans to fuel half of its domestic transportation by US-produced synthetic blends. The Airforce is currently the leading purchaser of renewable energy within the Federal government and has been a long time pioneer of renewable energy development and leadership. The US Army has recently prioritized renewable energy strategies in Iraq.[10] Strategies include the Tactical Garbage to Energy Refinery Program, which converts 1 ton of waste to 11 gallons of JP-8 fuel, a photovoltaic flexible, portable mat, insulating foam technology, hybrid-electric Manned Ground Vehicles (MGV), and highly efficient portable cells.[10] The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act gave more than $150 million to develop these technologies.[10] To boost its use of renewable energy and to increase its independence from a supply chain, the U.S. military has begun implementing the use of Skybuilt Power. Skybuilt Power is a company that designs highly portable power stations and devices that can be used in rugged, harsh environments to provide quick and efficient renewable energy. Skybuilt systems draw upon a combination of solar and wind power, fuel cells, batteries and diesel generators to create sustainable, transportable energy. The military can benefit from using these power systems through cutting their use of fossil fuels and saving many soldiers' lives. SkyBuilt’s systems can save up to 95% on fuel costs in the field. Skybuilt Power’s main products include the SkyStation, a complete power station that can be set up in rugged climates, the SkySkid, which can be transported easily via helicopter or forklift, the SkyTrailer, which directly provides energy to military grade trailers, and the SkyCase and SkyPAKs, which are man-portable renewable energy generators.[11] Especially important to the military are the SkyTrailers, which are used to power military grade trailers in transport. Many of the casualties of war are a result of attacks on fuel convoys. The SkyTrailer is designed to be usable within only an hour. Use of the Skybuilt Power systems can reduce the number of fuel convoys needed to power forward-operating military bases by cutting the military’s need for fossil fuels to power vehicles.[12]
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