President Obama on Monday signed an executive order that restores the Army, Navy, and Air Force Secretaries to the second, third, and fourth positions, respectively, behind the deputy defense secretary in the Pentagon’s order of leadership succession. (White House release) In that descending order, one of these officials would assume the leadership role at the Pentagon should the Defense Secretary be unable to perform the duties of office for whatever reason. The President’s action revokes Executive Order 13394 of December 2005 that placed the undersecretaries of defense for intelligence, policy, and acquisition, respectively, ahead of the service Secretaries in the leadership chain.
The emphasis on speed in the Pentagon’s newly unveiled slate of acquisition reforms may come with increased near-term cost increases, analysts say. But according to U.S. defense officials, the new weapons-buying construct provides the military with enough flexibility to prevent runaway budget overruns in major programs.
