U.S. Code > Title 10 Armed Forces > Subtitle A—General Military Law (§§ 101—2925) > PART I—ORGANIZATION AND GENERAL MILITARY POWERS (§§ 101—490) > CHAPTER 2—DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE (§§ 111—119) > § 113. Secretary of Defense

§ 113. Secretary of Defense

(a) There is a Secretary of Defense, who is the head of the Department of Defense, appointed from civilian life by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. 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.
(b) The Secretary is the principal assistant to the President in all matters relating to the Department of Defense. Subject to the direction of the President and to this title and section 2 of the National Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 401), he has authority, direction, and control over the Department of Defense.
(c)
(1) The Secretary shall report annually in writing to the President and the Congress on the expenditures, work, and accomplishments of the Department of Defense during the period covered by the report, together with—
(A) a report from each military department on the expenditures, work, and accomplishments of that department;
(B) itemized statements showing the savings of public funds, and the eliminations of unnecessary duplications, made under sections 125 and 191 of this title; and
(C) such recommendations as he considers appropriate.
(2) At the same time that the Secretary submits the annual report under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall transmit to the President and Congress a separate report from the Reserve Forces Policy Board on on [1] any reserve component matter that the Reserve Forces Policy Board considers appropriate to include in the report.
(d) Unless specifically prohibited by law, the Secretary may, without being relieved of his responsibility, perform any of his functions or duties, or exercise any of his powers through, or with the aid of, such persons in, or organizations of, the Department of Defense as he may designate.
(e)
(1) The Secretary shall include in his annual report to Congress under subsection (c)—
(A) a description of the major military missions and of the military force structure of the United States for the next fiscal year;
(B) an explanation of the relationship of those military missions to that force structure; and
(C) the justification for those military missions and that force structure.
(2) In preparing the matter referred to in paragraph (1), the Secretary shall take into consideration the content of the annual national security strategy report of the President under section 108 of the National Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 404a) for the fiscal year concerned.
(f) When a vacancy occurs in an office within the Department of Defense and the office is to be filled by a person appointed from civilian life by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, the Secretary of Defense shall inform the President of the qualifications needed by a person serving in that office to carry out effectively the duties and responsibilities of that office.
(g)
(1) The Secretary of Defense, with the advice and assistance of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, shall provide annually to the heads of Department of Defense components written policy guidance for the preparation and review of the program recommendations and budget proposals of their respective components. Such guidance shall include guidance on—
(A) national security objectives and policies;
(B) the priorities of military missions; and
(C) the resource levels projected to be available for the period of time for which such recommendations and proposals are to be effective.
(2) The Secretary of Defense, with the approval of the President and after consultation with the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, shall provide to the Chairman written policy guidance for the preparation and review of contingency plans, including plans for providing support to civil authorities in an incident of national significance or a catastrophic incident, for homeland defense, and for military support to civil authorities. Such guidance shall be provided every two years or more frequently as needed and shall include guidance on the specific force levels and specific supporting resource levels projected to be available for the period of time for which such plans are to be effective.
(h) The Secretary of Defense shall keep the Secretaries of the military departments informed with respect to military operations and activities of the Department of Defense that directly affect their respective responsibilities.
(i)
(1) The Secretary of Defense shall transmit to Congress each year a report that contains a comprehensive net assessment of the defense capabilities and programs of the armed forces of the United States and its allies as compared with those of their potential adversaries.
(2) Each such report shall—
(A) include a comparison of the defense capabilities and programs of the armed forces of the United States and its allies with the armed forces of potential adversaries of the United States and allies of the United States;
(B) include an examination of the trends experienced in those capabilities and programs during the five years immediately preceding the year in which the report is transmitted and an examination of the expected trends in those capabilities and programs during the period covered by the future-years defense program submitted to Congress during that year pursuant to section 221 of this title;
(C) include a description of the means by which the Department of Defense will maintain the capability to reconstitute or expand the defense capabilities and programs of the armed forces of the United States on short notice to meet a resurgent or increased threat to the national security of the United States;
(D) reflect, in the overall assessment and in the strategic and regional assessments, the defense capabilities and programs of the armed forces of the United States specified in the budget submitted to Congress under section 1105 of title 31 in the year in which the report is submitted and in the five-year defense program submitted in such year; and
(E) identify the deficiencies in the defense capabilities of the armed forces of the United States in such budget and such five-year defense program.
(3) The Secretary shall transmit to Congress the report required for each year under paragraph (1) at the same time that the President submits the budget to Congress under section 1105 of title 31 in that year. Such report shall be transmitted in both classified and unclassified form.
(j)
(1) Not later than April 8 of each year, the Secretary of Defense shall submit to the Committee on Armed Services and the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate and the Committee on Armed Services and the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives a report on the cost of stationing United States forces outside of the United States. Each such report shall include a detailed statement of the following:
(A) Costs incurred in the United States and costs incurred outside the United States in connection with the stationing of United States forces outside the United States.
(B) The costs incurred outside the United States in connection with operating, maintaining, and supporting United States forces outside the United States, including all direct and indirect expenditures of United States funds in connection with such stationing.
(C) The effect of such expenditures outside the United States on the balance of payments of the United States.
(2) Each report under this subsection shall be prepared in consultation with the Secretary of Commerce.
(3) In this subsection, the term “United States”, when used in a geographic sense, includes the territories and possessions of the United States.
(k) The Secretary of Defense, with the advice and assistance of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, shall provide annually to the Secretaries of the military departments and to the commanders of the combatant commands written guidelines to direct the effective detection and monitoring of all potential aerial and maritime threats to the national security of the United States. Those guidelines shall include guidance on the specific force levels and specific supporting resources to be made available for the period of time for which the guidelines are to be in effect.
(l) The Secretary shall include in the annual report to Congress under subsection (c) the following:
(1) A comparison of the amounts provided in the defense budget for support and for mission activities for each of the preceding five fiscal years.
(2) A comparison of the number of military and civilian personnel, shown by major occupational category, assigned to support positions and to mission positions for each of the preceding five fiscal years.
(3) An accounting, shown by service and by major occupational category, of the number of military and civilian personnel assigned to support positions during each of the preceding five fiscal years.
(4) A listing of the number of military and civilian personnel assigned to management headquarters and headquarters support activities as a percentage of military end-strength for each of the preceding five fiscal years.
(m) Information To Accompany Funding Request for Contingency Operation.— Whenever the President submits to Congress a request for appropriations for costs associated with a contingency operation that involves, or likely will involve, the deployment of more than 500 members of the armed forces, the Secretary of Defense shall submit to Congress a report on the objectives of the operation. The report shall include a discussion of the following:
(1) What clear and distinct objectives guide the activities of United States forces in the operation.
(2) What the President has identified on the basis of those objectives as the date, or the set of conditions, that defines the endpoint of the operation.

[1] So in original.