Secretary of Defense

The U.S. Secretary of Defense (SecDef) is the head of the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), concerned with the armed services and military matters. The Secretary is the principal defense policy advisor to the President and is responsible for the formulation of general defense policy related to all matters of direct and primary concern to the DoD, and for the execution of approved policy. The Secretary is appointed by the President with the approval of the Senate, and is a member of the Cabinet. By statute the Secretary must be a civilian who has not served in the active component of the armed forces for at least ten years.