Assistant Secretary of the Army


Assistant Secretary of the Army is a title used to describe various civilian officials in the United States Department of the Army.

Present Assistant Secretaries of the Army

At present, there are five offices bearing the title of Assistant Secretary of the Army:
The General Counsel of the Army is equivalent in rank to the Assistant Secretaries.
The five Assistant Secretaries and the GC report to and assist the United States Secretary of the Army and the United States Under Secretary of the Army.
By law, the Assistant Secretaries "shall be appointed from civilian life by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate".

Historyhttp://www.history.army.mil/books/root/appB.htm James E. Hewes, Jr., ''From Root to McNamara: Army Organization and Administration'' (1975), pp. 381-382

The office of Assistant Secretary of the Army was established at the time of the creation of the United States Department of Defense in 1947, and assumed many of the duties previously carried out by the United States Assistant Secretary of War in the United States Department of War. In February 1950, a second office, Assistant Secretary of the Army was added. In May 1952, Assistant Secretary of the Army Earl D. Johnson's office was renamed Assistant Secretary of the Army, making Jones the last individual to bear the stand-alone title of Assistant Secretary of the Army. In addition to the current offices bearing the title of Assistant Secretary of the Army, several individuals have held office as some type of Assistant Secretary, as shown below.

Assistant Secretaries of the Army, 1947—1952

NameAssumed OfficeLeft OfficePresident Appointed BySecretary Served Under
Gordon GraySeptember 24, 1947May 24, 1948Harry S. TrumanKenneth Claiborne Royall
Tracy VoorheesJune 17, 1948August 21, 1949Harry S. TrumanKenneth Claiborne Royall, Gordon Gray
Earl D. JohnsonMay 31, 1950May 7, 1952Harry S. TrumanFrank Pace

Assistant Secretaries of the Army (General Management), 1950—1953

NameAssumed OfficeLeft OfficePresident Appointed BySecretary Served Under
Karl BendetsenFebruary 2, 1950May 6, 1952Harry S. TrumanFrank Pace
Francis ShackelfordAugust 26, 195220 January 1953Harry S. TrumanKenneth Claiborne Royall, Gordon Gray

Assistant Secretary of the Army (Research and Materiel), 1952

NameAssumed OfficeLeft OfficePresident Appointed BySecretary Served Under
Earl D. JohnsonMay 7, 1952October 20, 1952Harry S. TrumanFrank Pace

Assistant Secretary of the Army (Materiel), 1953—1954

NameAssumed OfficeLeft OfficePresident Appointed BySecretary Served Under
John SlezakMay 4, 1953February 7, 1954Dwight D. EisenhowerRobert T. Stevens

Assistant Secretaries of the Army (Civil-Military Affairs), 1954—1958

NameAssumed OfficeLeft OfficePresident Appointed BySecretary Served Under
George H. RoderickAugust 26, 1954February 29, 1957Dwight D. EisenhowerRobert T. Stevens, Wilber M. Brucker
Dewey Jackson ShortMarch 15, 1957November 1958Dwight D. EisenhowerWilber M. Brucker