Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs

Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs
ATSD (PA)
Incumbent
Maura Sullivan

since July, 2015
Department of Defense
Reports to Secretary of Defense
Deputy Secretary of Defense
Seat The Pentagon, Arlington County, Virginia, U.S.
Appointer The President
with Senate advice and consent
Term length No fixed term
Constituting instrument 10 U.S.C. § 138
Formation 1957
First holder Murray Snyder
Salary Executive Schedule, level IV[1]
Website www.defense.gov

The Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs, or ATSD(PA), is the principal staff advisor and assistant to the Secretary of Defense and Deputy Secretary of Defense for public information, internal information, community relations, information training, and audiovisual matters in support of Department of Defense activities, leading a worldwide public affairs community of some 3,800 military and civilian personnel. The Assistant to the Secretary follows the Secretary's Principles of Information in providing Defense Department information to the public, the United States Congress and the media.

The office of the ATSD(PA) is currently held by Maura Sullivan.[2] Prior to October 2012, the position was known as the "Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs", and was retitled in response to the Presidential Appointment Efficiency and Streamlining Act of 2011[3]

The ATSD(PA) is the principal but not the sole spokesperson for the Department. In July 2011, the ASD(PA) announced the appointment of two additional spokespersons for the Department. George E. Little, one of two Deputy Assistant Secretaries of Defense for Public Affairs, served concurrently as the Pentagon Press Secretary. Little stepped down Nov. 15, 2013. Navy Rear Admiral John Kirby served alongside Little as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Media Operations and Spokesman. Kirby stepped down as spokesman in February 2015 and is in the process of retiring from the military. Both Little and Kirby served as spokespeople for the Secretary of Defense and for the Department.

Roles and Responsibilities

ATSD(PA) manages the following critical functions: community and public outreach, press operations, speechwriting, news analysis, communications planning. The ATSD(PA):

In addition, the ATSD(PA) exercises authority, direction, and control over the Defense Media Activity (DMA). DMA provides news and information to our over one million service members stationed at home and around the world via broadcast, radio, web, and periodicals. DMA also trains DoD and other Federal Department public affairs professionals.

The ATSD(PA) is supported by the following divisions:

Press Operations

Speechwriting

Communications Planning and Integration (CPI)

Community Relations

Defense Media Activity

History

The position was originally established as the Assistant to the Secretary (Director, Office of Public Information) by Secretary James V. Forrestal in July 1948. After Reorganization Plan No.6 of 30 June 1953 increased the number of assistant secretaries, Defense Directive 5122.1 of September 1953 redesignated the post as Assistant Secretary of Defense (Legislative and Public Affairs) [4]

This position was abolished in February 1957, and functions were divided between two new posts, the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs) and an Assistant Secretary of Defense (Legislative Affairs). ASD(PA) was established by Defense Directive 5105.13 of 10 August 1957.[4]

In 1993, the position was changed to Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs, by Defense Directive 5122.5. This bureaucratic distinction was dropped after the National Defense Authorization Act for FY1995 (P.L. 103-337) increased the number of assistant secretaries from 10 to 11. The post was subsequently titled Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs), referred to as the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs, and abbreviated as ASD(PA). In October 2015 the position was retitled again, reverting to Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs, in response to the Presidential Appointment Efficiency and Streamlining Act of 2011.

Office Holders

The table below includes both the various titles of this post over time, as well as all the holders of those offices.

Assistant Secretaries of Defense (Public Affairs)[4]
Name Tenure SecDef(s) Served Under President(s) Served Under
Assistant to the Secretary (Director, Office of Public Information)
Harold B. Hinton July 19, 1948 - March 12, 1949 James V. Forrestal Harry Truman
William Frye March 12, 1949 - February 19, 1950 James V. Forrestal
Louis A. Johnson
Harry Truman
Osgood Roberts (Acting) February 20, 1950 - January 24, 1951 Louis A. Johnson
George C. Marshall
Harry Truman
Clayton Fritchey January 25, 1951 - June 1, 1952 George C. Marshall
Robert A. Lovett
Harry Truman
Andrew H. Berding July 1, 1952 - November 18, 1953 Robert A. Lovett
Charles E. Wilson
Harry Truman
Dwight Eisenhower
Assistant Secretary of Defense (Legislative and Public Affairs)
Frederick A. Seaton September 15, 1953 - February 20, 1955 Charles E. Wilson Dwight Eisenhower
Robert Tripp Ross March 15, 1955 - February 20, 1957 Charles E. Wilson Dwight Eisenhower
Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs)
Murray Snyder March 21, 1957 - January 20, 1961 Charles E. Wilson
Neil H. McElroy
Thomas S. Gates
Dwight Eisenhower
Arthur Sylvester January 20, 1961 - February 3, 1967 Robert S. McNamara John F. Kennedy
Lyndon Johnson
Philip G. Goulding February 28, 1967 - January 20, 1969 Robert S. McNamara
Clark M. Clifford
Lyndon Johnson
Daniel Z. Henkin January 20, 1969 - May 25, 1969 (Acting)
May 25, 1969 - January 20, 1973
Melvin R. Laird Richard Nixon
Jerry W. Friedheim January 20, 1973 - April 13, 1973 (Acting)
April 13, 1973 - September 20, 1974
Melvin R. Laird
Elliot L. Richardson
James R. Schlesinger
Richard Nixon
Gerald Ford
William Beecher (Acting) September 21, 1974 - February 11, 1975 James R. Schlesinger Gerald Ford
Joseph Laitin February 12, 1975 - December 19, 1975 James R. Schlesinger
Donald H. Rumsfeld
Gerald Ford
William I. Greener, Jr. December 21, 1975 - July 31, 1976 Donald H. Rumsfeld Gerald Ford
M. Alan Woods August 6, 1976 - January 21, 1977 Donald H. Rumsfeld Gerald Ford
Thomas B. Ross March 7, 1977 - January 20, 1981 Harold Brown Jimmy Carter
Henry E. Catto, Jr. May 22, 1981 - September 16, 1983 Caspar W. Weinberger Ronald Reagan
Benjamin Welles (Acting) September 17, 1983 - November 1, 1983 Caspar W. Weinberger Ronald Reagan
Mary Lou Sheils (Acting) November 2, 1983 - November 22, 1983 Caspar W. Weinberger Ronald Reagan
Michael I. Burch November 23, 1983 - June 22, 1985 Caspar W. Weinberger Ronald Reagan
Fred Hoffman (Acting) June 23, 1985 - October 1, 1985 Caspar W. Weinberger Ronald Reagan
Robert B. Sims October 18, 1985 - September 20, 1987 Caspar W. Weinberger Ronald Reagan
Fred Hoffman (Acting) September 21, 1987 - February 2, 1988 Caspar W. Weinberger
Frank C. Carlucci III
Ronald Reagan
J. Daniel Howard February 3, 1988 - March 21, 1989 Frank C. Carlucci III
William H. Taft IV (Acting)
Ronald Reagan
George H. W. Bush
Louis A. "Pete" Williams May 22, 1989 - January 20, 1993 Richard B. Cheney George H. W. Bush
Assistant to the Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs)
Vernon A. Guidry, Jr. January 22, 1993 - July 18, 1993 Leslie Aspin, Jr. Bill Clinton
Kathleen deLaski July 19, 1993 - August 5, 1994 Leslie Aspin, Jr.
William J. Perry
Bill Clinton
Kenneth H. Bacon September 20, 1994 - March 29, 1996 William J. Perry Bill Clinton
Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs)
Kenneth H. Bacon March 29, 1996 - January 19, 2001 William J. Perry
William S. Cohen
Bill Clinton
Victoria Clarke May 22, 2001 - June 20, 2003 Donald H. Rumsfeld George W. Bush
Lawrence Di Rita (Acting) August 10, 2003 - September 22, 2005 Donald H. Rumsfeld George W. Bush
J. Dorrance Smith[5] January 5, 2006 - January 20, 2009 Donald H. Rumsfeld
Robert M. Gates
George W. Bush
Robert T. Hastings, Jr. (Acting) March 10, 2008 - March 31, 2009 Robert M. Gates George W. Bush
Douglas B. Wilson [6] February 11, 2010 - March 31, 2012 Robert M. Gates Barack Obama
Price Floyd (Performing the Duties of) Dates not established Leon Panetta Barack Obama
Douglas B. Wilson February 11, 2010 - March 21, 2012 Leon Panetta Barack Obama
George Little (Acting) April 1, 2012 - October 8, 2012 Leon Panetta Barack Obama
Assistant to the Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs)
George Little October 9, 2012 - November 15, 2013 Leon Panetta
Chuck Hagel
Barack Obama
Brent Colburn December 18, 2014 - July, 2015 Chuck Hagel
Ashton Carter
Barack Obama
Maura Sullivan July, 2015 – November, 2015 Ashton Carter Barack Obama
Peter Cook November, 2015 - Present Ashton Carter Barack Obama

Budget

Budget Totals

The annual budget for ASD(PA) is contained in the OSD's budget, under the Defense-Wide Operation and Maintenance (O&M) account.

ASD(PA) Budget, FY 10-12 ($ in thousands) [7]
Line Item FY11 Estimate FY12 Estimate
Assistant Secretary of Defense, Public Affairs 7,253 7,079

References

External links

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