A Layperson’s Guide to the American Security Sector, Part 3
Welcome back to the Layperson’s Guide to the American Security Sector. This article is part 3 of 4. Previously, I discussed the role of Congress in United States national defense, as well as far-reaching powers of the president. Today we’ll be talking about the thousands of people who work for him.
If we zoom out, we remember that the purpose of the executive branch is to execute the laws passed by Congress. Congress enacts hundreds of bills into law each year, so the executive branch must have the capacity to carry out these directives. Much of the work of the U.S. government is therefore carried out by federal agencies and departments.
Within the Executive Branch, in addition to the President, there are no less than 15 departments and 70 more federal agencies.
The U.S. Departments that correspond to security are:
- Department of Defense (housed in the Pentagon)
- Department of State
- Department of Energy
- Department of Homeland Security
- Department of Justice
- Central Intelligence Agency (technically an independent agency)
Let’s break them down.
The Department of Defense (DOD) coordinates the operations and strategy of the United States military. I could write an entire series of articles detailing the organization and composition of the DOD itself, so we will simplify things a bit here. The DOD does a few things. First, “the military departments train and equip the military forces,” second, “the Chairman plans and coordinates military deployments and operations,” and third, “the unified commands conduct the military operations.”
Within the military, there are 5 branches of service: the Army, the Navy, the Air Force, the Marines, and the Coast Guard. Technically, the Marines are housed within the Navy. And unhelpfully, the Constitution gives no direction to the organization of the Executive, and so we end up with units like the Coast Guard, which is usually housed in the Department of Homeland Security, but sometimes in the Department of Defense in a time of war. (For those of you following along from Part 1, this is also where the Space Force would go, thereby creating a new branch of the military.)
The military is known for an extensive network of decision makers known as the chain of command. Every member knows their authority, to whom they report, and who reports to them. You can learn more about rank here, but the most important thing to know is that the president, while a civilian, is the commander-in-chief of the armed forces and has the ultimate authority. [photo]
A final, and vital, aspect to discuss with regard to the DOD is the National Security Agency. In the years since 9/11, the American public has become much more familiar with the NSA than before. Jokes about NSA agents are now mainstream. Practically, the NSA is “responsible for collecting, monitoring, and processing information and data for counterintelligence and foreign intelligence actions.” There are actually 13 agencies that do intelligence work in the U.S. government, including the Defense Intelligence Agency, but I’m trying to write an article, not a textbook.
The Department of State is another mammoth-sized governmental agency, this one tasked with the work of implementing U.S. foreign policy and relating to foreign governments. Within the department, there are a number of undersecretaries and sub-organizations, ranging from U.S. missions (embassies) around the world to a team that investigates refugees and migration. The State Department focus is diplomacy, so instead of deploying members of the armed services, it dispatches diplomats, ambassadors, and envoys around the world to communicate and negotiate for American national interests.
The offices directly related to security are Civilian Security & Democracy, which houses units that work on counterterrorism and conflict stabilization, as well as Arms Control & International Security, which tackles nonproliferation and arms control. A deeper dive into the organization of the department can be found here.
Some might be surprised to find the Department of Energy (DOE) on a list of departments corresponding to U.S. security. In fact, the DOE is home to one of the most important programs of American national defense: our nuclear weapons program. Again, the president is the final decision maker when it comes to actually using nuclear weapons, but they are developed, maintained, and eventually dismantled in the DOE’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). The NNSA is “responsible for enhancing national security through the military application of nuclear science.” They also track the nuclear weapons programs of our allies and adversaries, and promote nonproliferation.
The Department of Homeland Security was established in 2002, after 9/11, to “secure the nation from the many threats we face.” Most of this department’s work is done here, in North America, as opposed to abroad. That includes border security, immigration, and an office dedicated to securing weapons of mass destruction, among other things. The idea of this office is to secure the borders of the U.S. by creating a heightened awareness and greater control of who enters and leaves the country, as well as the circumstances of their stay. Interestingly, this department is also home to the Coast Guard, most of the time. (See DOD.)
The final stop on our tour is actually not a department, but an agency: the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). The CIA is not actually a department under the president, but rather an independent agency. It is the CIA’s job to “collect, analyze, evaluate and disseminate foreign intelligence to assist the president and senior U.S. government policymakers in making decisions relating to national security.” Yes, this is the agency with spies. Because the CIA is an independent agency, the president is more limited when it comes to oversight both of the institution’s activities, as well as hiring and firing their leader, the CIA director.
Though only tangentially related to national security, the Department of Justice (DOJ) supports cases related to immigration and houses the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). This bureau investigates cases of domestic terrorism and criminal threats, both through intelligence and law enforcement activities. The FBI and CIA are often confused; the FBI is a domestic law enforcement agency while the CIA is a foreign intelligence agency.
The complexity of the United States government is certainly intimidating, if not astounding. That one person, the president, could accurately and adequately oversee all of the operations within this, the largest organization on earth, is somewhat unrealistic. And yet, the world is also complex and the security threats to America are numerous. The agency and department structure helps to distribute the burden of managing U.S. security and allows experts to focus in on different sectors and topics within the national defense umbrella.
And that’s it for part 3 of 4. Continue on for our final installment and an exploration of non-state actors involved in national security: the military industrial complex & think tanks, foundations, and organizations.
Missed an article?
Part 1 — Congress
Part 2 — The President
Part 3 — Executive Branch & Federal Agencies
Part 4 — Non-governmental entities
