CRS INSIGHT
Statutory Restrictions Relating to Prior Military Service
of the Secretary of Defense
December 13, 2016 (IN10613)
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Kathleen J. McInnis
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Kathleen J. McInnis, Coordinator, Analyst in International Security (kmcinnis@crs.loc.gov, 7-1416)
Heidi M. Peters, Research Librarian (hpeters@crs.loc.gov, 7-0702)
Andrew Feickert, Specialist in Military Ground Forces (afeickert@crs.loc.gov, 7-7673)
By law, the Secretary of Defense, who has authority, direction, and control over the Department of Defense, is a civilian
appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate.
Section 113 of Title 10 of the U.S. Code provides that "[a] person may not be appointed as Secretary of Defense within
seven years after relief from active duty as a commissioned officer of a regular component of an armed force." Since
such statutory qualification provisions
are created by law, they may also be changed, or alternatively, temporarily
suspended for the benefit of a specific individual.
Since the establishment of the position of Secretary of Defense by the National Security Act of 1947, Congress has
acted in one instance to suspend this provision. Enacted on September 18, 1950, at the request of President Truman
during the Korean War, P.L. 81-788 authorized the suspension of certain statutory requirements otherwise prohibiting
General of the Army George C. Marshall from serving as Secretary of Defense.
National Security Act of 1947 and Recent Changes
The principle of civilian control of the military is fundamental to the manner in which the United States is governed.
The Founding Fathers themselves wrestled with how to advance the nation's security while at the same time ensuring
that instruments of force do not undermine the practice of American democracy. The principle places ultimate authority
over the U.S. armed services in the hands of civilian leadership, with civilian responsibility and control of the military
balanced between the executive and legislative branches of the government. Upon the conclusion of World War II, this
principle may have been especially important to U.S. leaders, given the political popularity of many World War II
General and Flag officers. Accordingly, as Congress sought to reorganize U.S. national security institutions, it did so
while trying to find the best manner to preserve the principle of civilian control of the military.
The 1947 National Security Act created a newly unified National Military Establishment (renamed the Department of
Defense in 1949). Prior to 1947, the Departments of War and Navy operated separately, each headed by a Cabinet-level
