United States Deputy Secretary of Defense

E2617

United States federal government position defense ministry deputy position

The United States Deputy Secretary of Defense is the second-highest-ranking official in the U.S. Department of Defense, responsible for overseeing its day-to-day operations and acting as the principal deputy to the Secretary of Defense.

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All labels observed (5)

Label	Occurrences
Deputy Secretary of Defense	37
United States Deputy Secretary of Defense canonical	17
Deputy Secretary of Defense of the United States	2
U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense	1
United States Under Secretary of Defense (original position prior to 1949 reorganization)	1

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T14787 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: United States Deputy Secretary of Defense
Context triple: [David Packard, positionHeld, United States Deputy Secretary of Defense]

A. United States Secretary of Defense
The United States Secretary of Defense is the head of the Department of Defense and the principal defense policy advisor to the President, overseeing the nation’s armed forces and military strategy.
B. United States National Security Advisor
The United States National Security Advisor is a senior official in the Executive Office of the President who coordinates national security and foreign policy strategy and advises the president on related matters.
C. Secretary of the Army
The Secretary of the Army is the U.S. civilian government official responsible for overseeing and managing all affairs of the United States Army.
D. Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisition
The Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisition is a senior civilian official responsible for overseeing the Navy’s and Marine Corps’ research, development, procurement, and lifecycle management of weapons systems and technologies.
E. United States Deputy Attorney General
The United States Deputy Attorney General is the second-highest-ranking official in the U.S. Department of Justice, responsible for overseeing its day-to-day operations and acting as the Attorney General’s principal deputy.
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: United States Deputy Secretary of Defense
Target entity description: The United States Deputy Secretary of Defense is the second-highest-ranking official in the U.S. Department of Defense, responsible for overseeing its day-to-day operations and acting as the principal deputy to the Secretary of Defense.

A. United States Secretary of Defense
The United States Secretary of Defense is the head of the Department of Defense and the principal defense policy advisor to the President, overseeing the nation’s armed forces and military strategy.
B. United States National Security Advisor
The United States National Security Advisor is a senior official in the Executive Office of the President who coordinates national security and foreign policy strategy and advises the president on related matters.
C. Secretary of the Army
The Secretary of the Army is the U.S. civilian government official responsible for overseeing and managing all affairs of the United States Army.
D. Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisition
The Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisition is a senior civilian official responsible for overseeing the Navy’s and Marine Corps’ research, development, procurement, and lifecycle management of weapons systems and technologies.
E. United States Deputy Attorney General
The United States Deputy Attorney General is the second-highest-ranking official in the U.S. Department of Justice, responsible for overseeing its day-to-day operations and acting as the Attorney General’s principal deputy.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (45)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	United States federal government position ⓘ defense ministry deputy position ⓘ
alsoKnownAs	Deputy Secretary of Defense ⓘ
appointedBy	President of the United States ⓘ
canBeRemovedBy	President of the United States ⓘ
constitutingInstrument	Title 10 of the United States Code ⓘ
country	United States of America ⓘ
department	United States Department of Defense ⓘ linked to: Department of Defense
formationDate	1949 ⓘ
hierarchicalRank	second-highest-ranking official in the United States Department of Defense ⓘ
inauguralHolder	Stephen T. Early ⓘ
inauguralHolderStartDate	May 2, 1949 ⓘ
jurisdiction	federal government of the United States ⓘ linked to: United States government
legalBasis	10 U.S.C. § 132 ⓘ
location	Arlington, Virginia ⓘ
memberOf	Office of the Secretary of Defense ⓘ United States Department of Defense senior leadership ⓘ
nominator	President of the United States ⓘ
officeHoldersMustNot	have served as a commissioned officer of a regular component of an armed force within the previous seven years (with possible waivers by Congress) ⓘ
officeType	civilian political appointee ⓘ
partOf	United States Department of Defense ⓘ linked to: Department of Defense
precededBy	United States Under Secretary of Defense (original position prior to 1949 reorganization) ⓘ linked to: United States Deputy Secretary of Defense
rankRelativeTo	above the Under Secretaries of Defense ⓘ below the United States Secretary of Defense ⓘ
reportsTo	United States Secretary of Defense ⓘ
requires	advice and consent of the United States Senate ⓘ
responsibility	acting as principal deputy to the United States Secretary of Defense ⓘ acting for the Secretary of Defense in the Secretary’s absence ⓘ chairing or co-chairing major internal Department of Defense governance boards ⓘ coordinating policy and resources among the military departments and defense agencies ⓘ coordinating the development and execution of the defense budget ⓘ ensuring integration of military and civilian components of the Department of Defense ⓘ leading major Department of Defense reform and modernization efforts ⓘ overseeing day-to-day operations of the United States Department of Defense ⓘ overseeing defense acquisition and procurement policy at the departmental level ⓘ overseeing implementation of national defense strategy as directed by the Secretary of Defense ⓘ overseeing internal management controls and enterprise-wide business operations of the Department of Defense ⓘ overseeing management, reform, and efficiency initiatives within the Department of Defense ⓘ providing civilian oversight of the Office of the Secretary of Defense staff ⓘ supervising the performance of the Under Secretaries of Defense ⓘ supporting the Secretary of Defense in relations with the White House, Congress, and other departments and agencies ⓘ
seat	The Pentagon ⓘ linked to: Pentagon
style	The Honorable ⓘ
termLength	no fixed term ⓘ
website	https://www.defense.gov ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (58)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

David Packard → positionHeld → United States Deputy Secretary of Defense ⓘ

subject linked to: Packard

United States Deputy Secretary of Defense → precededBy → United States Under Secretary of Defense (original position prior to 1949 reorganization) ⓘ