10 U.S.C. § 113 : US Code - Section 113: Secretary of Defense

Search 10 U.S.C. § 113 : US Code - Section 113: Secretary of Defense

(a) There is a Secretary of Defense, who is the head of the
Department of Defense, appointed from civilian life by the
President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. A
person may not be appointed as Secretary of Defense within 10 years
after relief from active duty as a commissioned officer of a
regular component of an armed force.
(b) The Secretary is the principal assistant to the President in
all matters relating to the Department of Defense. Subject to the
direction of the President and to this title and section 2 of the
National Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 401), he has authority,
direction, and control over the Department of Defense.
(c)(1) The Secretary shall report annually in writing to the
President and the Congress on the expenditures, work, and
accomplishments of the Department of Defense during the period
covered by the report, together with -
(A) a report from each military department on the expenditures,
work, and accomplishments of that department;
(B) itemized statements showing the savings of public funds,
and the eliminations of unnecessary duplications, made under
sections 125 and 191 of this title; and
(C) such recommendations as he considers appropriate.
(2) At the same time that the Secretary submits the annual report
under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall transmit to the President
and Congress a separate report from the Reserve Forces Policy Board
on the reserve programs of the Department of Defense and on any
other matters that the Reserve Forces Policy Board considers
appropriate to include in the report.
(d) Unless specifically prohibited by law, the Secretary may,
without being relieved of his responsibility, perform any of his
functions or duties, or exercise any of his powers through, or with
the aid of, such persons in, or organizations of, the Department of
Defense as he may designate.
(e)(1) The Secretary shall include in his annual report to
Congress under subsection (c) -
(A) a description of the major military missions and of the
military force structure of the United States for the next fiscal
year;
(B) an explanation of the relationship of those military
missions to that force structure; and
(C) the justification for those military missions and that
force structure.
(2) In preparing the matter referred to in paragraph (1), the
Secretary shall take into consideration the content of the annual
national security strategy report of the President under section
108 of the National Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 404a) for the
fiscal year concerned.
(f) When a vacancy occurs in an office within the Department of
Defense and the office is to be filled by a person appointed from
civilian life by the President, by and with the advice and consent
of the Senate, the Secretary of Defense shall inform the President
of the qualifications needed by a person serving in that office to
carry out effectively the duties and responsibilities of that
office.
(g)(1) The Secretary of Defense, with the advice and assistance
of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, shall provide
annually to the heads of Department of Defense components written
policy guidance for the preparation and review of the program
recommendations and budget proposals of their respective
components. Such guidance shall include guidance on -
(A) national security objectives and policies;
(B) the priorities of military missions; and
(C) the resource levels projected to be available for the
period of time for which such recommendations and proposals are
to be effective.
(2) The Secretary of Defense, with the approval of the President
and after consultation with the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of
Staff, shall provide to the Chairman written policy guidance for
the preparation and review of contingency plans. Such guidance
shall be provided every two years or more frequently as needed and
shall include guidance on the specific force levels and specific
supporting resource levels projected to be available for the period
of time for which such plans are to be effective.
(h) The Secretary of Defense shall keep the Secretaries of the
military departments informed with respect to military operations
and activities of the Department of Defense that directly affect
their respective responsibilities.
(i)(1) The Secretary of Defense shall transmit to Congress each
year a report that contains a comprehensive net assessment of the
defense capabilities and programs of the armed forces of the United
States and its allies as compared with those of their potential
adversaries.
(2) Each such report shall -
(A) include a comparison of the defense capabilities and
programs of the armed forces of the United States and its allies
with the armed forces of potential adversaries of the United
States and allies of the United States;
(B) include an examination of the trends experienced in those
capabilities and programs during the five years immediately
preceding the year in which the report is transmitted and an
examination of the expected trends in those capabilities and
programs during the period covered by the future-years defense
program submitted to Congress during that year pursuant to
section 221 of this title;
(C) include a description of the means by which the Department
of Defense will maintain the capability to reconstitute or expand
the defense capabilities and programs of the armed forces of the
United States on short notice to meet a resurgent or increased
threat to the national security of the United States;
(D) reflect, in the overall assessment and in the strategic and
regional assessments, the defense capabilities and programs of
the armed forces of the United States specified in the budget
submitted to Congress under section 1105 of title 31 in the year
in which the report is submitted and in the five-year defense
program submitted in such year; and
(E) identify the deficiencies in the defense capabilities of
the armed forces of the United States in such budget and such
five-year defense program.
(3) The Secretary shall transmit to Congress the report required
for each year under paragraph (1) at the same time that the
President submits the budget to Congress under section 1105 of
title 31 in that year. Such report shall be transmitted in both
classified and unclassified form.
(j)(1) Not later than April 8 of each year, the Secretary of
Defense shall submit to the Committee on Armed Services and the
Committee on Appropriations of the Senate and the Committee on
Armed Services and the Committee on Appropriations of the House of
Representatives a report on the cost of stationing United States
forces outside of the United States. Each such report shall include
a detailed statement of the following:
(A) Costs incurred in the United States and costs incurred
outside the United States in connection with the stationing of
United States forces outside the United States.
(B) The costs incurred outside the United States in connection
with operating, maintaining, and supporting United States forces
outside the United States, including all direct and indirect
expenditures of United States funds in connection with such
stationing.
(C) The effect of such expenditures outside the United States
on the balance of payments of the United States.
(2) Each report under this subsection shall be prepared in
consultation with the Secretary of Commerce.
(3) In this subsection, the term "United States", when used in a
geographic sense, includes the territories and possessions of the
United States.
(k) The Secretary of Defense, with the advice and assistance of
the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, shall provide annually
to the Secretaries of the military departments and to the
commanders of the combatant commands written guidelines to direct
the effective detection and monitoring of all potential aerial and
maritime threats to the national security of the United States.
Those guidelines shall include guidance on the specific force
levels and specific supporting resources to be made available for
the period of time for which the guidelines are to be in effect.
(l) The Secretary shall include in the annual report to Congress
under subsection (c) the following:
(1) A comparison of the amounts provided in the defense budget
for support and for mission activities for each of the preceding
five fiscal years.
(2) A comparison of the number of military and civilian
personnel, shown by major occupational category, assigned to
support positions and to mission positions for each of the
preceding five fiscal years.
(3) An accounting, shown by service and by major occupational
category, of the number of military and civilian personnel
assigned to support positions during each of the preceding five
fiscal years.
(4) A listing of the number of military and civilian personnel
assigned to management headquarters and headquarters support
activities as a percentage of military end-strength for each of
the preceding five fiscal years.
(m) Information To Accompany Funding Request for Contingency
Operation. - Whenever the President submits to Congress a request
for appropriations for costs associated with a contingency
operation that involves, or likely will involve, the deployment of
more than 500 members of the armed forces, the Secretary of Defense
shall submit to Congress a report on the objectives of the
operation. The report shall include a discussion of the following:
(1) What clear and distinct objectives guide the activities of
United States forces in the operation.
(2) What the President has identified on the basis of those
objectives as the date, or the set of conditions, that defines
the endpoint of the operation.