Senate affirmation hearings are slated to start on Jan. 14, 2025, for Pete Hegseth, whom President-elect Donald Trump has chosen to function the subsequent secretary of protection. It’s an enormous job, broadly affecting People’ safety at house and overseas and overseeing enormous numbers of individuals and immense quantities of cash.
The Dialog U.S. requested Evelyn Farkas, a longtime Protection Division chief who’s now govt director of the McCain Institute at Arizona State College, to clarify what the secretary of protection’s job entails and what makes an individual efficient at that job. In the course of the Obama administration, Farkas was a deputy assistant secretary of protection with a give attention to Russia, Ukraine and Eurasia. Previous to that, she was a civilian adviser to the highest navy officer in NATO, and earlier nonetheless she was a senior employees member of the Senate Armed Companies Committee, which oversees the navy. She additionally served as a professor on the U.S. Marine Corps Command and Workers Faculty.
What does the secretary of protection do?
They’re chargeable for about 3.4 million folks, together with 1.2 million energetic responsibility service members and 1.3 million reservists, in addition to about 900,000 civilian staff. The secretary is chargeable for ensuring these individuals are capable of do their jobs – which, collectively, is to defend the USA, the American folks and U.S. pursuits.
They’re chargeable for protection coverage, spending and operations, which incorporates the folks, property and gear at about 500 navy bases throughout all 50 states and one other 750 or so bases in 80 nations world wide. They’re chargeable for budgeting and spending virtually US$2 trillion a 12 months in federal funds, which is about 16% of the general federal price range.
The Pentagon is the headquarters for the U.S. Protection Division.
AP Picture/Charles Dharapak
What’s the secretary’s position in commanding the nation’s navy forces?
The president is the commander in chief and decides when and how you can use the navy. However the president’s determination to make use of drive depends on recommendation and proposals from the secretary of protection and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Workers. The president orders the secretary to hold out navy operations, and the orders cross down from the secretary to the related commanders from there.
What’s a median day or week for the secretary of protection?
The secretary units the imaginative and prescient and tone for the Division of Protection and helps the president develop his or her protection technique, after which implements that technique. The secretary additionally designs and implements insurance policies to advance the technique and the general nationwide safety targets of the president.
The Protection Division’s duty is targeted on the usage of the navy, whether or not it’s to discourage assaults or defend American pursuits. The secretary should be sure that the navy is provided and skilled – prepared – to struggle and win the nation’s wars and to conduct another operations, reminiscent of humanitarian, counterterrorism or peace operations.
The secretary units priorities, that are mirrored within the division’s price range. The price range must be negotiated with Congress, after all. Day after day, the secretary is holding conferences with people who find themselves charged with managing completely different features of the division’s exercise. This occurs frequently within the Pentagon or when the secretary visits navy models and installations within the U.S. or world wide.
There are undersecretaries for coverage and the price range and different capabilities reminiscent of personnel and readiness. Then there are service secretaries, who have a look at all of these points however just for one particular service – the Military, the Navy, which incorporates the Marine Corps, and the Air Power, which incorporates the Area Power.
Potential troopers stand in a coaching formation.
Scott Olson/Getty Pictures
Does the president speak to the secretary of protection frequently?
It depends upon the president. Most presidents have common conferences with their prime officers as a Cupboard, as a gaggle, after which, after all, individually. Some presidents could have a standing lunch with their Cupboard members, or only a formal assembly.
Typically talking, most presidents would search to have a gathering no less than as soon as per week that entails their secretary of protection. There’s rather a lot happening on this planet, and many of the occasions or crises contain some determination about the usage of navy drive or some impact on protection capabilities.
How does the secretary of protection have an effect on common People’ lives?
The secretary’s involvement in a choice to make use of nuclear weapons will surely have an effect on virtually each American. In order that’s a technique, and any choices involving conflict may probably have an effect on any given American.
Wanting that, the financial ripple results of choices the secretary makes may very well be nationwide. The protection price range is massive, however not sufficient to have an effect on everybody all on the similar time. However for instance, if the secretary of protection decides to shut a base, that might have influence on most individuals in that neighborhood, if not all of them, no less than not directly. Companies must modify or shut, and the navy personnel and their households must transfer. And the political management of the neighborhood can be empowered to make choices concerning the civilian use of properties beforehand owned by the Division of Protection.
Virtually each type of firm does enterprise with the Division of Protection, both immediately or not directly. The commissaries inventory meals and medication and all kinds of standard objects that the navy buys, along with gear for preventing.
After which there’s analysis and improvement. Traditionally, the Protection Division has put some huge cash into these efforts, which has had a number of impact on customers’ lives. It’s not simply the web, though that’s one instance of one thing that was invented for navy functions after which translated into civilian use. Plenty of smaller developments occur, too, as a result of when some huge cash is being poured into innovation, they uncover issues alongside the way in which that may be commercialized.
These days the civilian sector has outpaced the Protection Division by way of analysis and improvement and innovation, however the protection {dollars} nonetheless make an enormous distinction.
A U.S. navy automobile travels by way of Germany on its manner again from workouts in Poland.
Robert Michael/image alliance by way of Getty Pictures
What private or skilled attributes make for an efficient protection secretary?
I labored for 4 of them, three immediately. Robert Gates had a excessive sense of empathy and plenty of prior authorities expertise. Leon Panetta had an acute humorousness and a direct however humorous manner of interacting. He additionally had the benefit of getting held a number of high-level jobs in different components of the federal government. Chuck Hagel had a direct line to the Senate, and Ashton Carter was a hard-driven professional.
Probably the most helpful attributes embody honesty, empathy, a humorousness, a pointy mind, the power to be taught rapidly and the talent to find out what’s necessary rapidly. In fact, prior authorities expertise working with the division is invaluable. It’s useful to have an understanding of how the Protection Division works, with all its parts, and its strengths and weaknesses, earlier than you get into the job. The division has a navy and civilian forms, and it takes some savvy work to get it to maneuver rapidly to implement the president’s technique.
In the course of the affirmation course of, like all nominees, the secretary is required to attest in writing and typically verbally that they are going to present truthful solutions to Congress and that they are going to be responsive when Congress has questions.
Completely different secretaries do a greater job at that than others. Secretary Donald Rumsfeld typically would annoy members of Congress as a result of he knew there was a time restrict on his capacity to talk and on every senator’s capacity to talk. So he would simply converse till the clock ran out, and that made them mad. He wouldn’t all the time reply questions immediately and typically got here off as boastful.
The interactions with Congress are this delicate dance, as a result of a secretary desires to guard the prerogatives of the president and the chief department. However Congress pays the payments, gives any new authorities the secretary may be searching for and may curtail each the authority and the price range. A secretary desires to defend the insurance policies, the price range and the actions of the Division of Protection. However additionally they wish to be respectful of Congress’ position and tasks and the person members of Congress.
Typically that stability is difficult to strike. They’re in a very demanding job, they usually get known as to testify in entrance of Congress, often with the TV cameras on. Members of Congress aren’t all the time well mannered, so it takes a number of endurance and self management on the a part of the secretary of protection to efficiently preserve good relations, private and non-private, with members of Congress.
What do the American folks deserve from a protection secretary?
The secretary ought to be somebody who will rise up for the navy and civilians within the division and demand from the president and Congress the assets wanted to execute their mission and to offer for the well-being of the personnel, who’re, in spite of everything, People.
I might additionally say a secretary ought to work together with the media in a manner that strikes the best stability between informing the American public about what the division and the navy are doing within the identify of the American folks and defending nationwide safety secrets and techniques. On the finish of the day, the secretary of protection is working for the American folks of their curiosity and that of the nation.
This story is a part of a sequence of profiles of Cupboard and high-level administration positions.