United States Secretary of the Air Force
Secretary of the Air Force
SecAF | |
---|---|
Seal of the Secretary of the Air Force | |
Flag of the Secretary of the Air Force | |
Department of the Air Force | |
Style |
Madam Secretary The Honorable (formal address in writing) |
Reports to |
Secretary of Defense Deputy Secretary of Defense |
Appointer |
The President with the advice and consent of the Senate |
Term length | No fixed term |
Inaugural holder | Stuart Symington |
Formation | September 18, 1947 |
Succession | 4th in SecDef succession |
Deputy |
The Under Secretary (principal civilian deputy) The Chief of Staff (military advisor and deputy) |
Salary | Level II of the Executive Schedule |
Website | Official Website |
The Secretary of the Air Force (SecAF, or SAF/OS) is the head of the Department of the Air Force, a component organization within the Department of Defense of the United States. The Secretary of the Air Force is appointed from civilian life by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate.[1] The Secretary reports to the Secretary of Defense and/or the Deputy Secretary of Defense, and is by statute responsible for and has the authority to conduct all the affairs of the Department of the Air Force.[2]
The Secretary works closely with his/her civilian deputy, the Under Secretary of the Air Force; and his/her military deputy, the Chief of Staff of the Air Force, who is the senior ranked uniformed officer in the United States Air Force.
The first Secretary of the Air Force, Stuart Symington, was sworn-in on September 18, 1947 upon the re-organization of the Army Air Forces into a military department and a military service of its own, independent of the War Department/Army, with the enactment of the National Security Act. The salary of SECAF IS $179,700, Level II.
On December 13, 2013, Deborah Lee James was confirmed by the United States Senate to be the next Secretary of the Air Force. She was sworn in by Timothy Beyland on December 20.[3] Undersecretary of the Air Force Eric Fanning assumed the role of acting secretary when then-Secretary of the Air Force Michael B. Donley stepped down in June.
President Obama nominated James on August 1, 2013. At that time, she was serving as president of the technology and engineering sector at Science Applications International Corporation.
Responsibilities
The Secretary is the head of the Department of the Air Force, analogous to that of a chief executive officer of a corporation. The Department of the Air Force is defined as a Military Department.[4] It is not limited to the Washington headquarter staffs, rather it is an entity which includes all the components of the United States Air Force and the Air National Guard:
The term 'department', when used with respect to a military department, means the executive part of the department and all field headquarters, forces, reserve components, installations, activities, and functions under the control or supervision of the Secretary of the department.[5]
The exclusive responsibilities of the Secretary of the Air Force are enumerated in Title 10 Section 8013 (b) of the United States Code. They include, but are not limited to:
(1) Recruiting.
(2) Organizing.
(3) Supplying.
(4) Equipping (including research and development).
(5) Training.
(6) Servicing.
(7) Mobilizing.
(8) Demobilizing.
(9) Administering (including the morale and welfare of personnel).
(10) Maintaining.
(11) The construction, outfitting, and repair of military equipment.
(12) The construction, maintenance, and repair of buildings, structures, and utilities and the acquisition of real property and interests in real property necessary to carry out the responsibilities specified in this section.[6]
By direction of the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of the Air Force assigns military units of the Department of the Air Force, other than those who carry out the functions listed in 10 USC 8013 (b), to the Unified and Specified Combatant Commands to perform missions assigned to those commands. Air Force units while assigned to Combatant Commands may only be reassigned by authority of the Secretary of Defense.[7]
However, the chain of command for Air Force units for other purposes than the operational direction goes from the President to the Secretary of Defense to the Secretary of the Air Force to the Commanders of Air Force Commands.[8] Air Force Officers have to report on any matter to the Secretary, or the Secretary's designate, when requested. The Secretary has the authority to detail, prescribe the duties, and to assign air force service members and civilian employees, and may also change the title of any activity not statutorily designated.[9] The Secretary has several responsibilities under the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) with respect to Air Force service members, including to authority to convene General Courts Martial and to commute sentences.
The Secretary of the Air Force may also be assigned additional responsibilities by the President or the Secretary of Defense,[10] e.g. the Secretary is designated as the "DoD Executive Agent for Space", and as such:
...shall develop, coordinate, and integrate plans and programs for space systems and the acquisition of DoD Space Major Defense Acquisition Programs to provide operational space force capabilities to ensure the United States has the space power to achieve its national security objectives.[11][12]
Office of the Secretary of the Air Force
Agency overview | |
---|---|
Formed | 1947 |
Headquarters | Pentagon |
Parent agency | Department of the Air Force |
The Secretary of the Air Force's principal staff element, the Office of the Secretary of the Air Force, has responsibility for acquisition and auditing, comptroller issues (including financial management), inspector general matters, legislative affairs, and public affairs within the Department of the Air Force. The Office of the Secretary of the Air Force is one of the Department of the Air Force's two headquarter staffs at the seat of government, the other one is the Air Staff.
Composition
The Office of the Secretary of the Air Force is composed of:
- Under Secretary of the Air Force
- The Deputy Under Secretary of the Air Force for International Affairs
- The Deputy Under Secretary of the Air Force for Space Programs
- Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition
- Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Financial Management and Comptroller
- Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Installations, Environment and Logistics
- Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Manpower and Reserve Affairs
- General Counsel of the Department of the Air Force
- Inspector General of the Air Force
- Chief of Legislative Liaison
- Administrative Assistant to the Secretary of the Air Force
- Auditor General of the Department of the Air Force
- Air Reserve Forces Policy Committee
Chronological list of Secretaries of the Air Force
No. | Image | Name | Term of Office | Secretaries of Defense serving under: | President appointed by: | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Began | Ended | Days of Service | |||||
1 | W. Stuart Symington | September 18, 1947 | April 24, 1950 | 949 | James Forrestal Louis Johnson |
Harry S. Truman | |
2 | Thomas K. Finletter | April 24, 1950 | January 20, 1953 | 1002 | Louis Johnson George Marshall Robert Lovett | ||
3 | Harold E. Talbott | February 4, 1953 | August 13, 1955 | 920 | Charles Wilson | Dwight D. Eisenhower | |
4 | Donald A. Quarles | August 15, 1955 | April 30, 1957 | 624 | |||
5 | James H. Douglas, Jr. | May 1, 1957 | December 10, 1959 | 953 | Charles Wilson Neil McElroy Thomas Gates | ||
6 | Dudley C. Sharp | December 11, 1959 | January 20, 1961 | 406 | Thomas Gates | ||
7 | Eugene M. Zuckert | January 24, 1961 | September 30, 1965 | 1710 | Robert McNamara | John F. Kennedy | |
8 | Harold Brown | October 1, 1965 | February 15, 1969 | 1233 | Robert McNamara Clark Clifford Mel Laird |
Lyndon B. Johnson | |
9 | Robert C. Seamans, Jr. | February 15, 1969 | May 15, 1973 | 1550 | Mel Laird Elliot Richardson |
Richard M. Nixon | |
(acting) | John L. McLucas | May 15, 1973 | July 18, 1973 | 64 | Elliot Richardson James Schlesinger | ||
10 | July 18, 1973 | November 23, 1975 | 858 | James Schlesinger Donald Rumsfeld | |||
(acting) | James W. Plummer | November 24, 1975 | January 1, 1976 | 38 | Donald Rumsfeld | Gerald Ford | |
11 | Thomas C. Reed | January 2, 1976 | April 6, 1977 | 460 | Donald Rumsfeld Harold Brown | ||
12 | John C. Stetson | April 6, 1977 | May 18, 1979 | 772 | Harold Brown | Jimmy Carter | |
(acting) | Hans Mark | May 18, 1979 | July 26, 1979 | 69 | |||
13 | July 26, 1979 | February 9, 1981 | 564 | Harold Brown Caspar Weinberger | |||
14 | Verne Orr | February 9, 1981 | November 30, 1985 | 1755 | Caspar Weinberger | Ronald Reagan | |
15 | Russell A. Rourke | December 9, 1985 | April 6, 1986 | 118 | |||
(acting) | Edward C. Aldridge Jr. | April 6, 1986 | June 8, 1986 | 63 | |||
16 | June 9, 1986 | December 16, 1988 | 921 | Caspar Weinberger Frank Carlucci | |||
(acting) | James F. McGovern | December 16, 1988 | April 29, 1989 | 134 | Frank Carlucci Dick Cheney | ||
(acting) | John J. Welch, Jr. | April 29, 1989 | May 21, 1989 | 22 | Dick Cheney | George H. W. Bush | |
17 | Donald B. Rice | May 1, 1989 | January 20, 1993 | 1360 | |||
(acting) | Michael B. Donley | January 20, 1993 | July 13, 1993 | 174 | Les Aspin | Bill Clinton | |
(acting) | Merrill A. McPeak | July 14, 1993 | August 5, 1993 | 22 | |||
18 | Sheila E. Widnall | August 6, 1993 | October 31, 1997 | 1547 | Les Aspin William Perry William Cohen | ||
(acting) | F. Whitten Peters | November 1, 1997 | July 30, 1999 | 636 | William Cohen | ||
19 | July 30, 1999 | January 20, 2001 | 540 | ||||
(acting) | Lawrence J. Delaney | January 21, 2001 | May 31, 2001 | 130 | Donald Rumsfeld | George W. Bush | |
20 | James G. Roche | June 1, 2001 | January 20, 2005 | 1329 | |||
(acting) | Peter B. Teets | January 20, 2005 | March 25, 2005 | 64 | |||
(acting) | Michael Montelongo | March 25, 2005 | March 28, 2005 | 3 | |||
(acting) | Michael L. Dominguez | March 28, 2005 | July 29, 2005 | 123 | |||
(acting) | Pete Geren [13] | July 29, 2005 | November 4, 2005 | 98 | |||
21 | Michael Wynne | November 4, 2005 | June 20, 2008[14] | 959 | Donald Rumsfeld Robert Gates | ||
(acting) | Michael B. Donley | June 21, 2008[14] | October 2, 2008 | 103 | Robert Gates Leon Panetta Chuck Hagel | ||
22 | October 2, 2008 | June 21, 2013 | 1723 | ||||
(acting) | Eric Fanning | June 21, 2013 | December 20, 2013 | 182 | Chuck Hagel Ashton Carter |
Barack Obama | |
23 | Deborah Lee James | December 20, 2013 | Incumbent | 1096 |
See also
- Air Force Cross (United States)
- Department of the Air Force Decoration for Exceptional Civilian Service
References
- Title 10 United States Code
- Subtitle A - General Military Law
- CHAPTER 1 - DEFINITIONS
- § 101. Definitions
- CHAPTER 1 - DEFINITIONS
- Subtitle D - Air Force
- CHAPTER 6 - COMBATANT COMMANDERS
- § 162. Combatant command: assigned forces; chain of command
- CHAPTER 803 - DEPARTMENT OF THE AIR FORCE
- § 8011. Organization.
- § 8013. Secretary of the Air Force.
- § 8014. Office of the Secretary of the Air Force.
- § 8015. Under Secretary of the Air Force.
- CHAPTER 805 - THE AIR STAFF
- § 8032. The Air Staff: general duties
- § 8033. Chief of Staff
- CHAPTER 6 - COMBATANT COMMANDERS
- Subtitle A - General Military Law
- Executive Order 12909, Order of Succession of Officers To Act as Secretary of the Air Force
- Department of Defense Directive (DODD) 5100.1, Functions of the Department of Defense and Its Major Components, August 1 2002.
- Department of Defense Directive (DODD) 5101.2, DoD Executive Agent for Space, June 3 2003.
Notes
- ↑ 10 USC 8013 (a)
- ↑ 10 USC 8013 (a)-(b)
- ↑ New USAF Secretary Sworn In
- ↑ 10 USC 101 (a)(8)
- ↑ 10 USC 101 (a)(6)
- ↑ 10 USC 8013 (b)
- ↑ 10 USC 162 (a)
- ↑ DODD 5100.1, 6.1.
- ↑ 10 USC 8013 (f-g)
- ↑ 10 USC 8013 (d)
- ↑ DODD 5101.2, 3. MISSION
- ↑ http://dod-executiveagent.osd.mil/agentListView.aspx?ID=55
- ↑ DefenseLink News Article: Army Secretary Resigns in Wake of Walter Reed Outpatient-Care Shortfalls
- 1 2 Air Force Almanac 2011, Accessed on 2011-09-12
External links
- Leaders Through the Years, 2012 USAF Almanac
- US Air Force Senior Leadership at Archive.is (archived 2012-12-12)