10 U.S.C. § 137a — Deputy Under Secretaries of Defense

Page 195 TITLE 10—ARMED FORCES § 137a ‘‘(b) REDESIGNATION OF RELATED DEPUTY UNDER SEC- RETARY.— ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence is hereby redesignated as the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security. ‘‘(2) SERVICE OF INCUMBENT IN POSITION.—The indi- vidual serving as Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence as of the date of the enactment of this Act may serve as Deputy Under Secretary of De- fense for Intelligence and Security commencing as of that date without further appointment under section 137a of title 10, United States Code (as amended by subsection (c)(1)(B) [probably should be (e)(1)(B)]). ‘‘(3) REFERENCE.—Any reference in any law, regula- tion, map, document, paper, or other record of the United States to the Deputy Under Secretary of De- fense for Intelligence shall be deemed to be a ref- erence to the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security. ‘‘(c) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION REGARDING EFFECTS OF REDESIGNATION.—Nothing in this section shall be con- strued to modify or expand the authorities, resources, responsibilities, roles, or missions of the Under Sec- retary of Defense for Intelligence and Security, as re- designated by this section.’’ PLAN FOR INCORPORATION OF ENTERPRISE QUERY AND CORRELATION CAPABILITY INTO THE DEFENSE INTEL- LIGENCE INFORMATION ENTERPRISE Pub. L. 112–81, div. A, title IX, § 925, Dec. 31, 2011, 125 Stat. 1540, provided that: ‘‘(a) PLAN REQUIRED.— ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence shall develop a plan for the incorpo- ration of an enterprise query and correlation capa- bility into the Defense Intelligence Information En- terprise (DI2E). ‘‘(2) ELEMENTS.—The plan required by paragraph (1) shall— ‘‘(A) include an assessment of all the current and planned advanced query and correlation systems which operate on large centralized databases that are deployed or to be deployed in elements of the Defense Intelligence Information Enterprise; and ‘‘(B) determine where duplication can be elimi- nated, how use of these systems can be expanded, whether these systems can be operated collabo- ratively, and whether they can and should be inte- grated with the enterprise-wide query and correla- tion capability required pursuant to paragraph (1). ‘‘(b) PILOT PROGRAM.— ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary shall con- duct a pilot program to demonstrate an enterprisewide query and correlation capability through the Defense Intelligence Information Enter- prise program. ‘‘(2) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the pilot program shall be to demonstrate the capability of an enterprisewide query and correlation system to achieve the following: ‘‘(A) To conduct complex, simultaneous queries by a large number of users and analysts across nu- merous, large distributed data stores with response times measured in seconds. ‘‘(B) To be scaled up to operate effectively on all the data holdings of the Defense Intelligence Infor- mation Enterprise. ‘‘(C) To operate across multiple levels of security with data guards. ‘‘(D) To operate effectively on both unstructured data and structured data. ‘‘(E) To extract entities, resolve them, and (as ap- propriate) mask them to protect sources and meth- ods, privacy, or both. ‘‘(F) To control access to data by means of on-line electronic user credentials, profiles, and authen- tication. ‘‘(3) TERMINATION.—The pilot program conducted under this subsection shall terminate on September 30, 2014. ‘‘(c) REPORT.—Not later than November 1, 2012, the Under Secretary shall submit to the appropriate com- mittees of Congress a report on the actions undertaken by the Under Secretary to carry out this section. The report shall set forth the plan developed under sub- section (a) and a description and assessment of the pilot program conducted under subsection (b). ‘‘(d) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CONGRESS DE- FINED.—In this section, the term ‘appropriate commit- tees of Congress’ means— ‘‘(1) the Committee on Armed Services, the Com- mittee on Appropriations, and the Select Committee on Intelligence of the Senate; and ‘‘(2) the Committee on Armed Services, the Com- mittee on Appropriations, and the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence of the House of Represent- atives.’’ RELATIONSHIP TO AUTHORITIES UNDER NATIONAL SECURITY ACT OF 1947 Pub. L. 107–314, div. A, title IX, § 901(d), Dec. 2, 2002, 116 Stat. 2620, as amended by Pub. L. 113–291, div. A, title X, § 1071(d)(2), Dec. 19, 2014, 128 Stat. 3509, provided that: ‘‘Nothing in section 137 of title 10, United States Code, as added by subsection (a), shall supersede or modify the authorities of the Secretary of Defense and the Director of Central Intelligence as established by the National Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3001 et seq.).’’ [Reference to the Director of Central Intelligence or the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency in the Director’s capacity as the head of the intelligence com- munity deemed to be a reference to the Director of Na- tional Intelligence. Reference to the Director of Cen- tral Intelligence or the Director of the Central Intel- ligence Agency in the Director’s capacity as the head of the Central Intelligence Agency deemed to be a ref- erence to the Director of the Central Intelligence Agen- cy. See section 1081(a), (b) of Pub. L. 108–458, set out as a note under section 3001 of Title 50, War and National Defense.] § 137a. Deputy Under Secretaries of Defense (a)(1) There are six Deputy Under Secretaries of Defense. (2) The Deputy Under Secretaries of Defense shall be appointed from civilian life by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. (3) The officials authorized under this section shall be the only Deputy Under Secretaries of Defense. (b) Each Deputy Under Secretary of Defense shall be the first assistant to an Under Sec- retary of Defense and shall assist such Under Secretary in the performance of the duties of the position of such Under Secretary and shall act for, and exercise the powers of, such Under Secretary when such Under Secretary dies, re- signs, or is otherwise unable to perform the functions and duties of the office. (c)(1) One of the Deputy Under Secretaries is the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Re- search and Engineering. (2) One of the Deputy Under Secretaries is the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisi- tion and Sustainment. (3) One of the Deputy Under Secretaries is the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Policy. (4) One of the Deputy Under Secretaries is the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Per- sonnel and Readiness. (5) One of the Deputy Under Secretaries is the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense (Comp- troller). Page 196 TITLE 10—ARMED FORCES § 137a (6) One of the Deputy Under Secretaries is the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Intel- ligence and Security, who shall be appointed from among persons who have extensive exper- tise in intelligence matters. (d) The Deputy Under Secretaries of Defense take precedence in the Department of Defense after the Secretary of Defense, the Deputy Sec- retary of Defense, the Secretaries of the mili- tary departments, and the Under Secretaries of Defense. The Deputy Under Secretaries shall take precedence among themselves in the order prescribed by the Secretary of Defense. (Added Pub. L. 111–84, div. A, title IX, § 906(a)(1), Oct. 28, 2009, 123 Stat. 2425; amended Pub. L. 111–383, div. A, title IX, § 901(b)(3), (k)(1)(A), Jan. 7, 2011, 124 Stat. 4318, 4325; Pub. L. 113–291, div. A, title IX, § 901(i)(1), (j)(2)(C), (k)(3), Dec. 19, 2014, 128 Stat. 3467, 3468; Pub. L. 115–91, div. A, title IX, § 906(a)–(c), (f)(1), title X, § 1081(b)(1)(A), Dec. 12, 2017, 131 Stat. 1513, 1514, 1597; Pub. L. 115–232, div. A, title X, § 1081(f)(1)(C), Aug. 13, 2018, 132 Stat. 1986; Pub. L. 116–92, div. A, title XVI, § 1621(e)(1)(B), Dec. 20, 2019, 133 Stat. 1733; Pub. L. 118–31, div. A, title IX, § 901(a)(3), Dec. 22, 2023, 137 Stat. 354.) Editorial Notes AMENDMENTS 2023—Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 118–31 struck out ‘‘the Chief Management Officer of the Department of Defense,’’ after ‘‘the Deputy Secretary of Defense,’’. 2019—Subsec. (c)(6). Pub. L. 116–92 substituted ‘‘Dep- uty Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Se- curity’’ for ‘‘Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for In- telligence’’. 2018—Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 115–232 substituted ‘‘the Chief Management Officer of the Department of De- fense, the Secretaries of the military departments, and the Under Secretaries of Defense’’ for ‘‘the Secretaries of the military departments, the Under Secretaries of Defense, and the Deputy Chief Management Officer of the Department of Defense’’. 2017—Pub. L. 115–91, § 906(f)(1), amended section catch- line generally, substituting ‘‘Deputy Under Secretaries of Defense’’ for ‘‘Principal Deputy Under Secretaries of Defense’’. Subsec. (a)(1). Pub. L. 115–91, § 906(b), substituted ‘‘six’’ for ‘‘five’’. Pub. L. 115–91, § 906(a), struck out ‘‘Principal’’ before ‘‘Deputy Under’’. Subsec. (a)(2). Pub. L. 115–91, § 906(a), struck out ‘‘Principal’’ before ‘‘Deputy Under’’. Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 115–91, § 906(a), struck out ‘‘Prin- cipal’’ before ‘‘Deputy Under’’. Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 115–91, § 906(c), added pars. (1) and (2), redesignated former pars. (2) to (5) as (3) to (6), re- spectively, and struck out former par. (1) which read as follows: ‘‘One of the Deputy Under Secretaries is the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics.’’ Pub. L. 115–91, § 906(a), struck out ‘‘Principal’’ before ‘‘Deputy Under’’ wherever appearing. Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 115–91, § 1081(b)(1)(A), repealed Pub. L. 113–291, § 901(j)(2)(C). See 2014 Amendment note below. Pub. L. 115–91, § 906(a), struck out ‘‘Principal’’ before ‘‘Deputy Under’’ in two places. 2014—Subsec. (a)(3). Pub. L. 113–291, § 901(i)(1), added par. (3). Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 113–291, § 901(k)(3), substituted ‘‘dies, resigns, or is otherwise unable to perform the functions and duties of the office’’ for ‘‘is absent or dis- abled’’. Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 113–291, § 901(j)(2)(C), which di- rected substitution of ‘‘and the Under Secretaries of Defense.’’ for ‘‘the military departments, the Under Secretaries of Defense, and the Deputy Chief Manage- ment Officer of the Department of Defense.’’, was re- pealed by Pub. L. 115–91, § 1081(b)(1)(A). 2011—Pub. L. 111–383, § 901(k)(1)(A), substituted ‘‘Prin- cipal Deputy Under Secretaries of Defense’’ for ‘‘Dep- uty Under Secretaries of Defense’’ in section catchline. Subsec. (a)(1). Pub. L. 111–383, § 901(b)(3)(A), sub- stituted ‘‘Principal Deputy Under’’ for ‘‘Deputy Under’’. Subsec. (a)(2). Pub. L. 111–383, § 901(b)(3)(B), struck out subpar. (A) and subpar. (B) designation and sub- stituted ‘‘The Principal Deputy Under Secretaries of Defense’’ for ‘‘The Deputy Under Secretaries of Defense referred to in paragraphs (4) and (5) of subsection (c)’’. Prior to amendment, subpar. (A) read as follows: ‘‘The Deputy Under Secretaries of Defense referred to in paragraphs (1) through (3) of subsection (c) shall be ap- pointed as provided in the applicable paragraph.’’ Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 111–383, § 901(b)(3)(A), substituted ‘‘Principal Deputy Under’’ for ‘‘Deputy Under’’. Subsec. (c)(1). Pub. L. 111–383, § 901(b)(3)(C)(i), (ii), sub- stituted ‘‘One of the Principal Deputy’’ for ‘‘One of the Deputy’’ and struck out ‘‘appointed pursuant to section 133a of this title’’ after ‘‘Logistics’’. Subsec. (c)(2). Pub. L. 111–383, § 901(b)(3)(C)(i), (ii), sub- stituted ‘‘One of the Principal Deputy’’ for ‘‘One of the Deputy’’ and struck out ‘‘appointed pursuant to section 134a of this title’’ after ‘‘Policy’’. Subsec. (c)(3). Pub. L. 111–383, § 901(b)(3)(C)(i), (ii), sub- stituted ‘‘One of the Principal Deputy’’ for ‘‘One of the Deputy’’ and struck out ‘‘appointed pursuant to section 136a of this title’’ after ‘‘Readiness’’. Subsec. (c)(4). Pub. L. 111–383, § 901(b)(3)(C)(i), (iii), substituted ‘‘One of the Principal Deputy Under Secre- taries is’’ for ‘‘One of the Deputy Under Secretaries shall be’’. Subsec. (c)(5). Pub. L. 111–383, § 901(b)(3)(C)(i), (iii), (iv), substituted ‘‘One of the Principal Deputy Under Secretaries is’’ for ‘‘One of the Deputy Under Secre- taries shall be’’ and inserted before period at end ‘‘, who shall be appointed from among persons who have extensive expertise in intelligence matters’’. Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 111–383, § 901(b)(3)(A), (D), sub- stituted ‘‘Principal Deputy Under’’ for ‘‘Deputy Under’’ and inserted at end ‘‘The Principal Deputy Under Sec- retaries shall take precedence among themselves in the order prescribed by the Secretary of Defense.’’ Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries EFFECTIVE DATE OF 2017 AMENDMENT Pub. L. 115–91, div. A, title IX, § 906(c), Dec. 12, 2017, 131 Stat. 1513, provided that the amendment made by section 906(c) is effective on Feb. 1, 2018. Pub. L. 115–91, div. A, title X, § 1081(b), Dec. 12, 2017, 131 Stat. 1597, provided that the amendment made by section 1081(b)(1)(A) is effective as of Dec. 23, 2016. EFFECTIVE DATE OF 2014 AMENDMENT Pub. L. 113–291, div. A, title IX, § 901(i)(1), Dec. 19, 2014, 128 Stat. 3467, provided that the amendment made by section 901(i)(1) is effective Jan. 1, 2015. Pub. L. 113–291, div. A, title IX, § 901(j)(2), Dec. 19, 2014, 128 Stat. 3467, which provided that the amendment made by section 901(j)(2)(C) is effective on the effective date specified in former section 901(a)(1) of Pub. L. 113–291, which was Feb. 1, 2017, was repealed by Pub. L. 115–91, div. A, title X, § 1081(b)(1)(A), Dec. 12, 2017, 131 Stat. 1597. EFFECTIVE DATE OF 2011 AMENDMENT Amendment by Pub. L. 111–383 effective Jan. 1, 2011, see section 901(p) of Pub. L. 111–383, set out as a note under section 131 of this title. SAVINGS PROVISIONS Pub. L. 111–84, div. A, title IX, § 906(e), Oct. 28, 2009, 123 Stat. 2428, provided that: Page 197 TITLE 10—ARMED FORCES § 138 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding the amendments made by this section [enacting this section and amend- ing sections 133a, 134a, 136a, 138, and former 138a of this title and sections 5314 and 5315 of Title 5, Government Organization and Employees], the individual serving in a position specified in paragraph (2) on the day before the date of the enactment of this Act [Oct. 28, 2009] may continue to serve in such position without the require- ment for appointment by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, for a period of up to four years after the date of the enactment of this Act. ‘‘(2) COVERED POSITIONS.—The positions specified in this paragraph are the following: ‘‘(A) The Principal Deputy Under Secretary of De- fense (Comptroller). ‘‘(B) The Principal Deputy Under Secretary of De- fense for Intelligence.’’ TEMPORARY AUTHORITY FOR ADDITIONAL DUSDS Pub. L. 111–383, div. A, title IX, § 901(i)(2), Jan. 7, 2011, 124 Stat. 4323, provided that: ‘‘During the period begin- ning on the date of the enactment of this Act [Jan. 7, 2011] and ending on January 1, 2015, the Secretary of Defense may, in the Secretary’s discretion, appoint not more than five Deputy Under Secretaries of Defense in addition to the five Principal Deputy Under Secretaries of Defense authorized by section 137a of title 10, United States Code (as amended by subsection (b)(3)).’’ DELAYED LIMITATION ON NUMBER OF DEPUTY UNDER SECRETARIES OF DEFENSE Pub. L. 111–84, div. A, title IX, § 906(a)(2), Oct. 28, 2009, 123 Stat. 2426, as amended by Pub. L. 111–383, div. A, title IX, § 901(i)(1), Jan. 7, 2011, 124 Stat. 4323, which pro- vided that, effective Jan. 1, 2015, the five Deputy Under Secretaries of Defense authorized by section 137a of title 10 would be the only Deputy Under Secretaries of Defense, was repealed by Pub. L. 113–291, div. A, title IX, § 901(i)(2), Dec. 19, 2014, 128 Stat. 3467. [Pub. L. 113–291, div. A, title IX, § 901(i)(2), Dec. 19, 2014, 128 Stat. 3467, provided that section 901(i)(2), which repealed section 906(a)(2) of Pub. L. 111–84, formerly set out above, is effective on the effective date specified in section 901(i)(1) of Pub. L. 113–291, which is Jan. 1, 2015.] § 138. Assistant Secretaries of Defense (a)(1) There are 19 Assistant Secretaries of De- fense. (2) The Assistant Secretaries of Defense shall be appointed from civilian life by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Sen- ate. (b)(1) The Assistant Secretaries shall perform such duties and exercise such powers as the Sec- retary of Defense may prescribe. (2)(A) One of the Assistant Secretaries is the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Oper- ations and Low Intensity Conflict. The principal duty of the Assistant Secretary shall be the overall supervision (including oversight of pol- icy and resources) of special operations activi- ties (as defined in section 167(k) of this title) and low intensity conflict activities of the Depart- ment of Defense. The Assistant Secretary is the principal civilian adviser to the Secretary of De- fense on special operations and low intensity conflict matters and (after the Secretary and Deputy Secretary) is the principal special oper- ations and low intensity conflict official within the senior management of the Department of Defense. A person may not be appointed as As- sistant Secretary within seven years after relief from active duty as a commissioned officer of a regular component of an armed force. Subject to the authority, direction, and control of the Sec- retary of Defense, the Assistant Secretary shall do the following: (i) Exercise authority, direction, and control of all special-operations peculiar administra- tive matters relating to the organization, training, and equipping of special operations forces through the administrative chain of command specified in section 167(f) of this title. (ii) Assist the Secretary and the Under Sec- retary of Defense for Policy in the develop- ment and supervision of policy, program plan- ning and execution, and allocation and use of resources for the activities of the Department of Defense for the following: (I) Irregular warfare, combating terrorism, and the special operations activities speci- fied by section 167(k) of this title. (II) Integrating the functional activities of the headquarters of the Department to most efficiently and effectively provide for re- quired special operations forces and capabili- ties. (B) In the discharge of the responsibilities specified in subparagraph (A)(i), the Assistant Secretary is immediately subordinate to the Secretary of Defense. Unless otherwise directed by the President, no officer below the Secretary may intervene to exercise authority, direction, or control over the Assistant Secretary in the discharge of such responsibilities. (3) One of the Assistant Secretaries is the As- sistant Secretary of Defense for Legislative Af- fairs. The principal duty of the Assistant Sec- retary shall be the overall supervision of legisla- tive affairs of the Department of Defense. (4) One of the Assistant Secretaries is the As- sistant Secretary of Defense for Nuclear Deter- rence, Chemical, and Biological Defense Policy and Programs. The Assistant Secretary is the principal civilian adviser to the Secretary of De- fense on nuclear deterrence policies, operations, and associated programs within the senior man- agement of the Department of Defense. The principal duty of the Assistant Secretary shall be the overall supervision of nuclear deterrence policy, resources, and activities of the Depart- ment of Defense. (A) Subject to the authority, direction, and control of the Secretary of Defense, the As- sistant Secretary shall— (i) advise and assist the Secretary of De- fense, the Deputy Secretary of Defense, the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment, and the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy in the development and supervision of policy, program planning and execution, and allocation and use of re- sources for the activities of the Department of Defense on all matters relating to the sustainment, operation, and modernization of United States nuclear forces as defined in section 499c(d) of this title; (ii) communicate views on issues within the responsibility of the Assistant Secretary directly to the Secretary of Defense and the Deputy Secretary of Defense without obtain- ing the approval or concurrence of any other official within the Department of Defense;