Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs
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The Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs (ASD(HA)) is chartered under
The ASD(HA) reports to the Undersecretary of Defense (Personnel and Readiness), or USD(P&R). A political appointee responsible for the United States Department of Defense's Military Health System, the ASD(HA) is an Executive Service Level IV official. He or she is nominated by the president of the United States, and confirmed by the United States Senate.
History
This position was originally established in 1949 as the Chairman, Armed Forces Medical Policy Council. Reorganization Plan No. 6 (1953) abolished the council and transferred its functions to a new position, the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Health Affairs). In August 1953, some functions of this position were transferred to the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Manpower), and the title was changed to Assistant Secretary of Defense (Health and Medical).[2]
The position was abolished completely on January 31, 1961, and for the remainder of the decade, all of its functions were vested in the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Manpower). However, Congress authorized a permanent assistant secretary position for health affairs in November 1969 (P.L. 91-121). The post was then re-established as Assistant Secretary of Defense (Health and Environment) in June 1970 by Defense Directive 5136.1. In January 1976, the position was re-designated Assistant Secretary of Defense (Health Affairs), a title that has endured to the present day.[2]
Responsibilities
The ASD(HA) is responsible for a number of organizations which directly affect the health care of service members and their dependents. These responsibilities are executed through several
- Force Health Protection & Readiness (FHP&R)
- Clinical and Program Policy
- Health Budgets and Financial Policy.
Other special activities within Health Affairs' jurisdiction include the
The ASD (HA) oversees the
Current and Past Assistant Secretaries
The table below includes both the various titles of this post over time, as well as all the holders of those offices.
Name | Tenure | SecDef(s) Served Under | President(s) Served Under |
---|---|---|---|
Chairman, Armed Forces Medical Policy Council | |||
Dr. Raymond B. Allen | July 5, 1949 – September 30, 1949 | Louis A. Johnson | Harry Truman
|
Dr. Richard L. Meiling | October 1, 1949 - January 2, 1951 | Louis A. Johnson George C. Marshall |
Harry Truman
|
Dr. W. Randolph Lovelace | July 1, 1951 - March 31, 1952 | George C. Marshall Robert A. Lovett |
Harry Truman
|
Dr. Melvin A. Casberg | April 1, 1952 - March 31, 1953 | Robert A. Lovett Charles E. Wilson |
Dwight Eisenhower
|
Assistant to the Secretary of Defense (Health Affairs) | |||
Dr. Melvin A. Casberg | April 1, 1953 - August 2, 1953 | Charles E. Wilson | Dwight Eisenhower
|
Assistant Secretary of Defense (Health and Medical) | |||
Dr. Melvin A. Casberg | August 3, 1953 - January 27, 1954 | Charles E. Wilson | Dwight Eisenhower
|
Dr. Frank B. Berry | January 28, 1954 - January 31, 1961 | Thomas S. Gates |
Dwight Eisenhower
John Kennedy |
Assistant Secretary of Defense (Health and Environment) | |||
Dr. Louis M. Rousselot | July 22, 1970 - July 1, 1971 | Melvin R. Laird |
Richard Nixon |
Dr. Richard Sloan Wilbur | July 27, 1971 - September 1, 1973 | Elliot L. Richardson James R. Schlesinger |
Richard Nixon |
Dr. James R. Cowan | February 19, 1974 - March 1, 1976 | Donald H. Rumsfeld |
Richard Nixon Gerald Ford |
Vernon McKenzie (Acting) | March 2, 1976 - March 8, 1976 | Donald H. Rumsfeld |
Gerald Ford |
Assistant Secretary of Defense (Health Affairs) | |||
Dr. Robert N. Smith | August 30, 1976 - January 7, 1978 | Donald H. Rumsfeld Harold Brown |
Gerald Ford Jimmy Carter |
Vernon McKenzie (Acting) | January 8, 1978 - August 14, 1979 | Harold Brown | Jimmy Carter |
Dr. John Moxley III | September 14, 1979 - August 9, 1981 | Caspar W. Weinberger |
Jimmy Carter Ronald Reagan |
Dr. John Beary (Acting) | August 10, 1981 - September 24, 1983 | Caspar W. Weinberger |
Ronald Reagan |
Vernon McKenzie (Acting) | September 25, 1983 - November 17, 1983 | Caspar W. Weinberger |
Ronald Reagan |
Dr. William E. Mayer | November 18, 1983 - April 21, 1989 | Richard B. Cheney |
Ronald Reagan George H. W. Bush |
Dr. Enrique Méndez Jr. | March 5, 1990 - January 20, 1993 | Richard B. Cheney |
George H. W. Bush |
Dr. Edward D. Martin (Acting) | January 20, 1993 - March 23, 1994 | Leslie Aspin, Jr. William J. Perry |
William Clinton
|
Dr. Stephen C. Joseph | March 23, 1994 - March 31, 1997 | William S. Cohen |
William Clinton
|
Dr. Edward D. Martin (Acting) | April 1, 1997 - February 28, 1998 | William S. Cohen |
William Clinton
|
Gary Christopherson (Acting) | March 1, 1998 - May 25, 1998 | William S. Cohen |
William Clinton
|
Dr. Sue Bailey | May 26, 1998 - August 10, 2000 | William S. Cohen |
William Clinton
|
Dr. J. Jarrett Clinton | August 14, 2000 - October 29, 2001 | Donald H. Rumsfeld |
William Clinton
George W. Bush |
Dr. William Winkenwerder, Jr. |
October 29, 2001 - April 12, 2007 | Donald H. Rumsfeld |
George W. Bush |
Dr. S. Ward Casscells | April 12, 2007 - April 28, 2009 | Robert M. Gates |
George W. Bush Barack Obama |
Ellen Embrey (Acting*) | April 29, 2009 - January 31, 2010 | Robert M. Gates |
Barack Obama |
Allen W. Middleton (Acting*) | February 1, 2010 - February 28, 2010 | Robert M. Gates |
Barack Obama |
Dr. Charles L. Rice (Acting*) | March 1, 2010 - September 6, 2010 | Robert M. Gates |
Barack Obama |
Dr. George P. Taylor, Jr. (Acting*) |
September 7, 2010 - December 22, 2010 | Robert M. Gates |
Barack Obama |
Dr. Jonathan A. Woodson[6] | December 22, 2010 - May 1, 2016[7] | Robert M. Gates
|
Barack Obama |
Dr. Karen S. Guice (Acting*) | May 2, 2016 - January 20, 2017[8] | Ashton Carter | Barack Obama |
Dr. David J. Smith (Acting*)[9] | January 20, 2017 - August 23, 2017[10] | James Mattis |
Donald Trump |
Thomas P. McCaffery (Acting) | August 23, 2017 - August 5, 2019 | James Mattis Mark Esper |
Donald Trump |
Honorable Thomas P. McCaffery | August 5, 2019 - January 20, 2021 | Mark Esper | Donald Trump |
Dr. Terry A. Adirim (Acting)[11] | January 20, 2021 – March 1, 2023 | Lloyd Austin | Joe Biden |
Lester Martínez López | March 1, 2023 – present | Lloyd Austin | Joe Biden |
Persons marked with a * are interim officials described in military documents as "Performing the Duties of the ASD/HA," rather than as "Acting"
References
- ^ "Directives Division" (PDF). Dtic.mil. 2017-07-12. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 22, 2011. Retrieved 2019-06-19.
- ^ a b c "Department of Defense Key Officials" (PDF). Historical Office, OSD. 2016. Retrieved 2017-02-13.
- ^ Galvin, Robert. 4 August 2005. “The Complex World of Military Medicine: A Conversation with William Winkenwerder.” Health Affairs. http://www.healthaffairs.org/
- ^ "Welcome to International Health". Archived from the original on 2008-12-24. Retrieved 2019-06-19.
- ^ "History of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs" http://www.health.mil/About_MHS/History.aspx Archived 2010-12-24 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Woodson confirmed as Pentagon's top physician - Defense - GovExec.com". www.govexec.com. Archived from the original on 18 May 2016. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
- ^ Kime, Patricia (April 5, 2016). "Assistant secretary of defense for health affairs to step down". MilitaryTimes. Retrieved 2017-08-11.
- ^ Lyle, Amaani (December 22, 2016). "Departing DoD Official Reflects on Military Health System Improvements". U.S. Department of Defense. Retrieved 2017-08-11.
- ^ "Dr. David J. Smith". U.S. Department of Defense. Retrieved 2017-08-11.
- ^ "David J. Smith, M.D." Health.mil. Archived from the original on 2017-06-11. Retrieved 2017-08-11.
- ^ "Dr. Terry Adirim". U.S. Department of Defense. Retrieved 2021-02-20.