Us secretary of defense biography of martini

Head of the US Department of Defense

The United States secretary of defense (SecDef) is the head of the United States Department of Defense (DoD), the executive department of the U.S.

Armed Forces, and is a high-ranking member of the federal cabinet.^[5][6][7] The secretary of defense's position of command and authority over the military is second only to that of the president of the United States, who is the commander-in-chief.

This position corresponds to what is generally known as a defense minister in many other countries.^[8] The president appoints the secretary of defense with the advice and consent of the Senate, and is by custom a member of the Cabinet and by law a member of the National Security Council.^[9]

To ensure civilian control of the military, U.S.

law provides that the secretary of defense cannot have served as an active-duty commissioned officer in the military in the precedin