U.S. Air National Guard photo by Senior Airman Jonathan W. Padish via Flickr
The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) was established August 10th, 1949. Although, the federal government has overseen the U.S. Armed forces since our nation’s inception, the Department of Defense name and centralized defense department was not established until the late 1940s. The “official” anniversary of the creation of the Department of Defense as we know it in modern times is August 10. Established in 1949 thanks to an amended National Security Act (more on that below) the agency is run by the Secretary of Defense (SECDEF) with the Joint Chiefs of Staff for the various military services operating subordinately to the SECDEF.