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100-670: The Pentagon is the headquarters building of the United States Department of Defense , in Arlington County, Virginia , across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. The building was constructed on an accelerated schedule during World War II . As a symbol of the U.S. military , the phrase The Pentagon is often used as a metonym for the Department of Defense and its leadership. The building

200-584: A congressional hearing took place, organized by Representative Clifton Woodrum (D-VA), regarding proposals for new War Department buildings. Woodrum pressed Brigadier General Eugene Reybold , who represented the War Department at the hearing, for an "overall solution" to the department's "space problem", rather than building yet more temporary buildings. Reybold agreed to report back to Congress within five days. The War Department called upon its construction chief, General Brehon Somervell , to come up with

300-552: A continuous structure through all of the Pentagon's five floors, kept that section of the building from collapsing for 30 minutes—enough time for hundreds of people to crawl out to safety. The area struck by the plane also had blast-resistant windows—2 inches (5 cm) thick and 2,500 pounds (1,100 kg) each—that stayed intact during the crash and fire. It had fire doors that opened automatically and newly built exits that allowed people to get out. Contractors already involved with

400-476: A fall protection system. Removable sections of railing or gates that swing or slide open would be used to open up the area and allow the transfer of material, and then close once the material is removed. However, current ANSI standards require dual-gate safety systems for fall protection. Dual-gate safety systems were created to secure these areas, allowing a barrier to be in place at all times, even while pallets are being loaded or removed. Dual-gate systems create

500-769: A group of 20 demonstrators held a sit-in outside the Joint Chiefs of Staff's office, which lasted four days before they were arrested. In one of the better known incidents, on 21 October 1967, some 35,000 anti-war protesters organized by the National Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam , gathered for a demonstration at the Defense Department (the " March on the Pentagon "). They were confronted by some 2,500 armed soldiers. During

600-429: A heavy emphasis on light and space. In industrial settings, mezzanines may be installed (rather than built as part of the structure) in high-ceilinged spaces such as warehouses. These semi-permanent structures are usually free-standing, can be dismantled and relocated, and are sold commercially. Industrial mezzanine structures can be supported by structural steel columns and elements, or by racks or shelves. Depending on

700-441: A lagoon was also created beneath the Pentagon's river entrance. To minimize steel usage, concrete ramps were built rather than installing elevators. Indiana limestone was used for the building's façade. Architectural and structural design work for the Pentagon proceeded simultaneously with construction, with initial drawings provided in early October 1941, and most of the design work completed by 1 June 1942. At times

800-771: A mezzanine (and how heavy the mezzanine may be), and to design the appropriate mezzanine. Custom Mezzanines are steel, raised industrial platform structures that are designed specifically to match the space and capacity needs of a given facility. It will, at a minimum, include a stairway for accessing the mezzanine. These structures typically are the strongest in terms of support capacity. Standard Mezzanines are steel, raised industrial platform structures that are completely self-supporting and are sold in predetermined sizes and shapes. These off-the-shelf structures are usually strong (in terms of support capacity) and less expensive than custom mezzanines. Employees in material handling and manufacturing are often at risk of falls when they are on

900-464: A military defense force stagnated as they focused on other concerns relevant to setting up the new government. President George Washington went to Congress to remind them of their duty to establish a military twice during this time. Finally, on the last day of the session, September 29, 1789, Congress created the War Department . The War Department handled naval affairs until Congress created

1000-402: A park on 2 acres (8,100 m) of land, containing 184 benches, one dedicated to each victim. The benches are aligned along the line of Flight 77 according to the victims' ages, from 3 to 71. The park opened to the public on 11 September 2008. United States Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense ( DoD , USDOD , or DOD ) is an executive branch department of

1100-450: A plan. Government officials agreed that the War Department building, officially designated Federal Office Building No 1, should be constructed in Arlington County, Virginia , across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. Requirements for the new building were that it be no more than four stories tall, and that it use a minimal amount of steel to reserve that resource for war needs. The requirements meant that, instead of rising vertically,

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1200-465: Is the world's second-largest office building , with about 6.5 million square feet (600,000 m) of floor space, 3.7 million square feet (340,000 m) of which are used as offices. It has five sides, five floors above ground, two basement levels, and five ring corridors per floor with a total of 17.5 mi (28.2 km) of corridors, with a central five-acre (2.0 ha) pentagonal plaza. About 23,000 military and civilian employees work in

1300-551: Is not military, such as the Department of Homeland Security, counter-terrorism spending by the FBI, and intelligence-gathering spending by the NSA. In the 2010 United States federal budget , the Department of Defense was allocated a base budget of $ 533.7 billion, with a further $ 75.5 billion adjustment in respect of 2009, and $ 130 billion for overseas contingencies. The subsequent 2010 Department of Defense Financial Report shows

1400-464: Is on the second floor at the Metro entrance. Above-ground floors are numbered 1 to 5. Room numbers are given as the floor, concentric ring, and office number (which is in turn the nearest corridor number followed by the bay number). Thus, office 2B315 is on the second floor, B ring, and nearest to corridor 3 (between corridors 2 and 3). One way to get to this office would be to go to the second floor, get to

1500-540: Is the secretary and their deputies, including predominantly civilian staff. OSD is the principal staff element of the Secretary of Defense in the exercise of policy development, planning, resource management, fiscal and program evaluation and oversight, and interface and exchange with other U.S. federal government departments and agencies, foreign governments, and international organizations, through formal and informal processes. OSD also performs oversight and management of

1600-544: The Boeing 757 airliner into the western side of the Pentagon at 9:37 am EDT as part of the September 11 attacks . The impact of the plane severely damaged the outer ring of one wing of the building and caused its partial collapse. At the time of the attacks, the Pentagon was under renovation and many offices were unoccupied, resulting in fewer casualties. Due to the renovation work, only 800 people were there, as opposed to

1700-769: The Central Intelligence Agency , the National Security Council , National Security Resources Board , United States Air Force , and the Joint Chiefs of Staff . The act placed the National Military Establishment under the control of a single secretary of defense . The National Military Establishment formally began operations on September 18, the day after the Senate confirmed James V. Forrestal as

1800-970: The Eisenhower School (ES) and the National War College (NWC). Faced with rising tensions between the Thirteen Colonies and the British government , one of the first actions taken by the First Continental Congress in September 1774 was to recommend that the colonies begin defensive military preparations. In mid-June 1775, after the outbreak of the Revolutionary War , the Second Continental Congress , recognizing

1900-580: The Iraq War by marching from the Lincoln Memorial to the Pentagon's north parking lot. On September 11, 2001 , coincidentally the 60th anniversary of the Pentagon’s start of construction, five al-Qaeda affiliated hijackers took control of American Airlines Flight 77 , en route from Washington Dulles International Airport to Los Angeles International Airport , and deliberately crashed

2000-909: The Jefferson Memorial in Washington, and the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland , along with Wise Contracting Company, Inc. and Doyle and Russell, both from Virginia. In addition to the Hoover Airport site and other government-owned land, construction of the Pentagon required an additional 287 acres (1.16 km), which were acquired at a cost of $ 2.2 million (equivalent to $ 35.2 million in 2023). The Hell's Bottom neighborhood, consisting of numerous pawnshops, factories, approximately 150 homes, and other buildings around Columbia Pike ,

2100-523: The Navy Department in 1798. The secretaries of each department reported directly to the president as cabinet-level advisors until 1949, when all military departments became subordinate to the Secretary of Defense. After the end of World War II , President Harry Truman proposed the creation of a unified department of national defense. In a special message to the Congress on December 19, 1945,

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2200-674: The Office of the Director of National Intelligence . They fulfill the requirements of national policymakers and war planners, serve as Combat Support Agencies , and also assist and deploy alongside non-Department of Defense intelligence or law enforcement services such as the Central Intelligence Agency and the Federal Bureau of Investigation . The military services each have their intelligence elements that are distinct from but subject to coordination by national intelligence agencies under

2300-703: The deputy secretary of defense . Secretaries of military departments, in turn, normally exercise authority over their forces by delegation through their respective service chiefs (i.e., Chief of Staff of the Army , Commandant of the Marine Corps , Chief of Naval Operations , Chief of Staff of the Air Force , and Chief of Space Operations ) over forces not assigned to a Combatant Command . Secretaries of Military Departments and service chiefs do not possess operational command authority over U.S. troops (this power

2400-862: The federal government of the United States charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the U.S. government directly related to national security and the United States Armed Forces . As of November 2022, the U.S. Department of Defense is the second largest employer in the world after India (and potentially China, if including the Central Military Commission), with over 1.4  million active-duty service personnel, including soldiers, marines, sailors, airmen, and guardians. The Department of Defense also maintains over 778,000 National Guard and reservists, and over 747,000 civilians, bringing

2500-518: The fiscal year 2024 (FY2024) presidential budget request was $ 842   billion. In January 2023 Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen announced the US government would hit its $ 31.4   trillion debt ceiling on 19 January 2023; the date on which the US government would no longer be able to use extraordinary measures such as issuance of Treasury securities is estimated to be in June 2023. On 3 June 2023,

2600-413: The span and the run of the mezzanine, different materials may be used for the mezzanine's deck like fibre cement boards. Some industrial mezzanines may also include enclosed, paneled office space on their upper levels. There are three basic types of industrial mezzanines: custom, standard or modular. A structural engineer is sometimes hired to help determine whether the floor of the building can support

2700-403: The A (innermost) ring, go to and take corridor 3, and then turn left on ring B to get to bay 15. It is possible to walk between any two points in the Pentagon in less than ten minutes, though the optimal route may involve a brisk walk, routing through the open-air central courtyard, or both. The complex includes eating and exercise facilities as well as meditation and prayer rooms. Just south of

2800-646: The Army , Secretary of the Navy and Secretary of the Air Force ), appointed by the president, with the advice and consent of the Senate . They have the legal authority under Title 10 of the United States Code to conduct all the affairs of their respective departments within which the military services are organized. The secretaries of the Military Departments are (by law) subordinate to the secretary of defense and (by SecDef delegation) to

2900-603: The CIA's human intelligence efforts while also focusing on military human intelligence priorities. These agencies are directly overseen by the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security . The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) is a body of senior uniformed leaders in the Department of Defense who advise the secretary of defense, the Homeland Security Council , the National Security Council and

3000-735: The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (CJCS) as the "principal military adviser to the President, the National Security Council, the Homeland Security Council, and the Secretary of Defense". The remaining Joint Chiefs of Staff may only have their advice relayed to the President, National Security Council, the Homeland Security Council , or the Secretary of Defense after submitting it to the CJCS. By law,

3100-562: The Defense Agencies, Department of Defense Field Activities, and specialized Cross Functional Teams . OSD is a parent agency of the following defense agencies: Several defense agencies are members of the United States Intelligence Community . These are national-level intelligence services that operate under the Department of Defense jurisdiction but simultaneously fall under the authorities of

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3200-506: The Department of Defense are in Title 10 of the United States Code . Other significant legislation related to the Department of Defense includes: Mezzanine (architecture) Mezzanines may serve a wide variety of functions. Industrial mezzanines, such as those used in warehouses, may be temporary or semi-permanent structures. In Royal Italian architecture , mezzanino also means a chamber created by partitioning that does not go up all

3300-523: The Department of Defense budget, such as nuclear weapons research, maintenance, cleanup, and production, which is in the Department of Energy budget, Veterans Affairs, the Treasury Department's payments in pensions to military retirees and widows and their families, interest on debt incurred in past wars, or State Department financing of foreign arms sales and militarily-related development assistance. Neither does it include defense spending that

3400-474: The Department of Defense. Department of Defense manages the nation's coordinating authorities and assets in disciplines of signals intelligence , geospatial intelligence , and measurement and signature intelligence , and also builds, launches, and operates the Intelligence Community's satellite assets. Department of Defense also has its own human intelligence service , which contributes to

3500-600: The FY 2019 budget: "The overall number you often hear is $ 716 billion. That is the amount of funding for national defense, the accounting code is 050 and includes more than simply the Department of Defense. It includes, for example, the Department of Energy and others. That large a number, if you back out the $ 30 billion for non-defense agencies, you get to $ 686 billion. That is the funding for the Department of Defense, split between $ 617 billion in base and $ 69 billion in overseas contingency ". The Department of Defense budget encompasses

3600-520: The FY2018 Budget expired and the FY2019 budget came into effect. The FY2019 Budget for the Department of Defense is approximately $ 686,074,048,000 (Including Base + Overseas Contingency Operations + Emergency Funds) in discretionary spending and $ 8,992,000,000 in mandatory spending totaling $ 695,066,000,000 Undersecretary of Defense (Comptroller) David L. Norquist said in a hearing regarding

3700-812: The Joint Chiefs of Staff ( JCS ) and the Joint Staff ( JS ), Office of the Inspector General ( DODIG ), the Combatant Commands , the Military Departments ( Department of the Army (DA), Department of the Navy (DON) & Department of the Air Force (DAF)), the Defense Agencies and Department of Defense Field Activities , the National Guard Bureau (NGB), and such other offices, agencies, activities, organizations, and commands established or designated by law, or by

3800-575: The Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the four service branches each have their own ZIP Code. Until the Pentagon was built, the United States Department of War was headquartered in the Munitions Building , a temporary structure erected during World War I along Constitution Avenue on the National Mall . The War Department, which was a civilian agency created to administer the U.S. Army , was spread out in additional temporary buildings on

3900-588: The Mall Entrance, which also features a portico, leads out to a 600 ft-long (180 m) terrace that is used for ceremonies. The River Entrance, which features a portico projecting out twenty ft (6 m), is on the northeast side, overlooking the lagoon and facing Washington. A stepped terrace on the River Entrance leads down to the lagoon; and a landing dock was used until the late 1960s to ferry personnel between Bolling Air Force Base and

4000-588: The NDAA on 14 December 2023. The Senate will next undertake negotiations on supplemental spending for 2024. A government shutdown was averted on 23 March 2024 with the signing of a $ 1.2 trillion bill to cover FY2024. A 2013 Reuters investigation concluded that Defense Finance & Accounting Service , the Department of Defense's primary financial management arm, implements monthly "unsubstantiated change actions"—illegal, inaccurate "plugs"—that forcibly make DoD's books match Treasury's books. Reuters reported that

4100-766: The National Mall, as well as dozens of other buildings in Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia . In the late 1930s, during the Great Depression and federal construction program, a new War Department Building was constructed at 21st and C Streets in Foggy Bottom but, upon completion, the new building did not solve the department's space problem. It became the headquarters of the Department of State . When World War II broke out in Europe in 1939,

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4200-1106: The National Security Agency ( NSA ), the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency ( NGA ), and the National Reconnaissance Office ( NRO ). Other Defense agencies include the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency ( DARPA ), the Defense Logistics Agency ( DLA ), the Missile Defense Agency ( MDA ), the Defense Health Agency ( DHA ), Defense Threat Reduction Agency ( DTRA ), the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency ( DCSA ),

4300-416: The Pentagon was the only federal agency that had not released annual audits as required by a 1992 law. According to Reuters, the Pentagon "annually reports to Congress that its books are in such disarray that an audit is impossible". In 2015, a Pentagon consulting firm performed an audit on the Department of Defense's budget. It found that there was $ 125 billion in wasteful spending that could be saved over

4400-456: The Pentagon are Pentagon City and Crystal City , extensive shopping, business, and high-density residential districts in Arlington . Arlington National Cemetery is to the north. The Pentagon is surrounded by the relatively complex Pentagon road network . The Pentagon has six Washington, D.C., ZIP Codes despite its location in Arlington County, Virginia . The U.S. Secretary of Defense,

4500-402: The Pentagon, as well as about 3,000 non-defense support personnel. In 2001, the Pentagon was damaged during the September 11 attacks . Five Al-Qaeda hijackers flew American Airlines Flight 77 into the western side of the building, killing themselves and 184 other people, including 59 on the airplane and 125 in the Pentagon. It was the first significant foreign attack on federal facilities in

4600-473: The Pentagon. The main entrance for visitors is on the southeast side, as are the Pentagon Metro station and the bus station. There is also a concourse on the southeast side of the second floor of the building, which contains a mini-shopping mall. The south parking lot adjoins the southwest façade, and the west side of the Pentagon faces Washington Boulevard . The concentric rings are designated from

4700-673: The President to the Secretary of Defense, the service chief of the Unified Combatant Commander(s), and then to the unified combatant commander(s). Also provided in this legislation was a centralized research authority, the Advanced Research Projects Agency , eventually known as DARPA . The act was written and promoted by the Eisenhower administration and was signed into law on August 6, 1958. The Secretary of Defense , appointed by

4800-460: The September 11 attacks, a memorial of 184 beams of light shone up from the center courtyard of the Pentagon, one light for each victim of the attack. In addition, an American flag is hung each year on the side of the Pentagon damaged in the attacks, and the side of the building is illuminated at night with blue lights. After the attacks, plans were developed for an outdoor memorial, with construction underway in 2006. This Pentagon Memorial consists of

4900-714: The Space Development Agency ( SDA ) and the Pentagon Force Protection Agency ( PFPA ), all of which are subordinate to the secretary of defense. Additionally, the Defense Contract Management Agency ( DCMA ) is responsible for administering contracts for the Department of Defense. Military operations are managed by eleven regional or functional unified combatant commands . The Department of Defense also operates several joint services schools, including

5000-425: The Unified Combatant Commands are responsible for military forces' actual operational command. Almost all operational U.S. forces are under the authority of a Unified Command. The Unified Commands are governed by a Unified Command Plan —a frequently updated document (produced by the DoD), which lays out the Command's mission, geographical/functional responsibilities, and force structure. During military operations,

5100-422: The United States , the latter of which is also the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces . Beneath the Department of Defense are three subordinate military departments: the Department of the Army , the Department of the Navy , and the Department of the Air Force . In addition, four national intelligence services are subordinate to the Department of Defense: the Defense Intelligence Agency ( DIA ),

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5200-437: The War Department rapidly expanded to deal with current issues and in anticipation that the United States would be drawn into the conflict. Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson found the situation unacceptable, with the Munitions Building overcrowded and department offices spread out in additional sites. Stimson told U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt in May 1941 that the War Department needed additional space. On 17 July 1941,

5300-521: The allocation for the Department of Defense was $ 585  billion, the highest level of budgetary resources among all federal agencies, and this amounts to more than one-half of the annual federal expenditures in the United States federal budget discretionary budget . On September 28, 2018, President Donald Trump signed the Department of Defense and Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations Act, 2019, and Continuing Appropriations Act, 2019 (H.R.6157) into law. On September 30, 2018,

5400-438: The budgeted global military spending – more than the next 7 largest militaries combined. By 2019, the 27th secretary of defense had begun a line-by-line review of the defense budget; in 2020 the secretary identified items amounting to $ 5.7 billion, out of a $ 106 billion subtotal (the so-called "fourth estate" agencies such as missile defense, and defense intelligence, amounting to 16% of the defense budget), He will re-deploy to

5500-443: The building was occupied. On the building's main concourse is the Hall of Heroes, opened 1968 and dedicated to the more than 3,460 recipients of the Medal of Honor , the United States' highest military decoration. The three versions of the Medal of Honor – Army, Sea Service (for the Marine Corps , Navy , and Coast Guard ), and Air Force (for the Air Force and Space Force ) – are on display along with

5600-416: The building would be sprawling over a large area. Possible sites for the building included the Department of Agriculture 's Arlington Experimental Farm , adjacent to Arlington National Cemetery , and the obsolete Hoover Field site. The site first chosen was Arlington Farms , which had an asymmetric, roughly pentagonal shape, so the building was planned accordingly as an irregular pentagon. Concerned that

5700-413: The capital area since the burning of Washington during the War of 1812 . Following the attacks, the western side of the building was repaired, with a small indoor memorial and chapel added at the point of impact. The coordinated attacks, which killed 2,977 people, were the deadliest terrorist attack in history . In 2009, an outdoor memorial dedicated to the Pentagon victims of the September 11 attacks

5800-409: The center out as "A" through "E" with additional "F" and "G" rings in the basement. "E" Ring offices are the only ones with outside views and are generally occupied by senior officials. Office numbers go clockwise around each of the rings, and have two parts: a nearest-corridor number (1 to 10), followed by a bay number (00 to 99), so office numbers range from 100 to 1099. These corridors radiate out from

5900-439: The central courtyard, with corridor 1 beginning with the Concourse's south end. Each numbered radial corridor intersects with the corresponding numbered group of offices. Corridor 5, for instance, divides the 500 series office block. There are a number of historical displays in the building, particularly in the "A" and "E" rings. Subterranean floors in the Pentagon are lettered "B" for Basement and "M" for Mezzanine . The concourse

6000-404: The chain of command runs from the president to the secretary of defense to the combatant commanders of the Combatant Commands. As of 2019 , the United States has eleven Combatant Commands, organized either on a geographical basis (known as " area of responsibility ", AOR) or on a global, functional basis: Department of Defense spending in 2017 was 3.15% of GDP and accounted for about 38% of

6100-430: The chairman has to present that advice whenever he is presenting his own. The chain of command goes from the president to the secretary of defense to the commanders of the Combatant Commands . Goldwater–Nichols also created the office of vice-chairman, and the chairman is now designated as the principal military adviser to the secretary of defense, the Homeland Security Council, the National Security Council and to

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6200-432: The construction work got ahead of the design, with materials used other than those specified in the plans. Pressure to speed up design and construction intensified after the attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, with Somervell demanding that 1 million sq ft (9.3 ha) of space at the Pentagon be available for occupation by 1 April 1943. Chief architect Bergstrom resigned in April 1942 after he

6300-440: The debt ceiling was suspended until 2025. The $ 886   billion National Defense Authorization Act is facing reconciliation of the House and Senate bills after passing both houses 27 July 2023; the conferees have to be chosen, next. As of September 2023, a Continuing resolution is needed to prevent a Government shutdown . A shutdown was avoided on 30 September for 45 days (until 17 November 2023), with passage of

6400-438: The department were streamlined while still maintaining the ordinary jurisdiction of the Military Departments to organize, train, and equip their associated forces. The Act clarified the overall decision-making authority of the secretary of defense concerning these subordinate Military Departments. It more clearly defined the operational chain of command over U.S. military forces (created by the military departments) as running from

6500-406: The design requirements, Somervell required that the structural design accommodate floor loads of up to 150 psi (1,000 kPa), in case the building became a records storage facility after the end of the war. A minimal amount of steel was used as it was in short supply. Instead, the Pentagon was built as a reinforced concrete structure, using 680,000 tons of sand dredged from the Potomac River ;

6600-427: The elevation variations, and cast-in-place piles were used to deal with the soil conditions. Construction of the Pentagon was completed in approximately 16 months at a total cost of $ 83 million (equivalent to $ 1.33 billion in 2023). The building's approximate height is 77 ft (23 m), and each of the five sides is 921 ft (281 m) in length. The building was built wedge by wedge; each wedge

6700-611: The facility before its dedication, he ordered removal of the "Whites Only" signs in segregated areas. When the Governor of Virginia protested, Roosevelt's administration responded that the Pentagon, although on Virginia land, was under federal jurisdiction. In addition, its military and civilian federal employees were going to comply with the President's policies. As a result, the Pentagon was the only building in Virginia where racial segregation laws were not enforced (these laws were not overturned until 1965). The side-by-side sets of restrooms still exist, but have been integrated in practice since

6800-456: The first secretary of defense. The National Military Establishment was renamed the "Department of Defense" on August 10, 1949, and absorbed the three cabinet-level military departments, in an amendment to the original 1947 law. The renaming is alleged to be due to the Establishment's abbreviation, NME, being pronounced "enemy". Under the Department of Defense Reorganization Act of 1958 ( Pub. L.   85–599 ), channels of authority within

6900-435: The floor space of the complete floor below. Mezzanines help to make a high-ceilinged space feel more personal and less vast, and can create additional floor space. Mezzanines, however, may have lower-than-normal ceilings due to their location. The term "mezzanine" does not imply any particular function; mezzanines can be used for a wide array of purposes. Mezzanines are commonly used in modern architecture , which places

7000-407: The floors in a building, and generally does not count in determining maximum floorspace. The International Building Code permits a mezzanine to have as much as one-third of the floor space of the floor below. Local building codes may vary somewhat from this standard. A space may have more than one mezzanine, as long as the sum total of floor space of all the mezzanines is not greater than one-third

7100-469: The gunpowder age . On 28 July, Congress authorized funding for a new Department of War building in Arlington , which would house the entire department under one roof. President Roosevelt officially approved the Hoover Airport site on 2 September. While the project went through the approval process in late July 1941, Somervell selected the contractors, including John McShain, Inc. of Philadelphia , which had built Washington National Airport in Arlington,

7200-884: The job. Recent figures show approximately 20,000 serious injuries and nearly 100 fatalities a year in industrial facilities. Falls of people and objects from mezzanines are of particular concern. In many industrial operations, openings are cut into the guardrail on mezzanines and elevated work platforms to allow picking of palletized material to be loaded and unloaded, often with a fork truck, to upper levels. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and International Building Council (IBC) have published regulations for fall protection and The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) has published standards for securing pallet drop areas to protect workers that work on elevated platforms and are exposed to openings. In most cases, safety gates are used to secure these openings. OSHA requires openings 48 inches or taller to be secured with

7300-404: The jurisdiction of other congressional committees. The Department of Defense is unique because it is one of the few federal entities where the majority of its funding falls into the discretionary category. The majority of the entire federal budget is mandatory, and much of the discretionary funding in the budget consists of DoD dollars. * Numbers may not add due to rounding As of 10 March 2023

7400-496: The latest Center for Effective Government analysis of 15 federal agencies which receive the most Freedom of Information Act requests, published in 2015 (using 2012 and 2013 data, the most recent years available), the DoD earned 61 out of a possible 100 points, a D− grade. While it had improved from a failing grade in 2013, it still had low scores in processing requests (55%) and disclosure rules (42%). The organization and functions of

7500-578: The majority of the National Defense Budget of approximately $ 716.0 billion in discretionary spending and $ 10.8 billion in mandatory spending for a $ 726.8 billion total. Of the total, $ 708.1 billion falls under the jurisdiction of the House Committee on Armed Services and Senate Armed Services Committee and is subject to authorization by the annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The remaining $ 7.9 billion falls under

7600-589: The modernization of hypersonics, artificial intelligence, and missile defense. Beyond 2021 the 27th secretary of defense is projecting the need for yearly budget increases of 3 to 5 percent to modernize. The Department of Defense accounts for the majority of federal discretionary spending. In FY 2017, the Department of Defense budgeted spending accounted for 15% of the U.S. federal budget, and 49% of federal discretionary spending , which represents funds not accounted for by pre-existing obligations. However, this does not include many military-related items that are outside

7700-652: The names of recipients. The Hall is also used for promotions, retirements, and other ceremonies. From 1998 to 2011, the Pentagon was completely gutted and reconstructed in phases to bring it up to modern standards and improve security and efficiency. Asbestos was removed and all office windows were sealed. As originally built, most Pentagon office space consisted of open bays which spanned an entire ring. These offices used cross-ventilation from operable windows instead of air conditioning for cooling. Gradually, bays were subdivided into private offices with many using window air conditioning units . With renovations now complete,

7800-658: The necessity of having a national army that could move about and fight beyond the boundaries of any particular colony, organized the Continental Army on June 14, 1775. This momentous event is commemorated in the U.S. annually as Flag Day . Later that year, Congress would charter the Continental Navy on October 13, and the Continental Marines on November 10. Upon the seating of the 1st U.S. Congress on March 4, 1789, legislation to create

7900-496: The new building could obstruct the view of Washington, D.C., from Arlington Cemetery, President Roosevelt selected the Hoover Airport site instead. The building retained the pentagonal layout because Roosevelt liked it and a major redesign at that stage would have been costly. Freed of the constraints of the Arlington Farms site, the building was modified as a regular pentagon . It resembled star forts constructed during

8000-475: The new space includes a return to open office bays, and a new Universal Space Plan of standardized office furniture and partitions. During the late 1960s, the Pentagon became a focal point for protests against the Vietnam War . A group of 2,500 women, organized by Women Strike for Peace , demonstrated outside Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara 's office at the Pentagon on 15 February 1967. In May 1967,

8100-579: The next five years without layoffs or reduction in military personnel. In 2016, The Washington Post uncovered that rather than taking the advice of the auditing firm, senior defense officials suppressed and hid the report from the public to avoid political scrutiny. In June 2016, the Office of the Inspector General released a report stating that the Army made $ 6.5 trillion in wrongful adjustments to its accounting entries in 2015. The Department of Defense failed its fifth audit in 2022, and could not account for more than 60% of its $ 3.5 trillion in assets. In

8200-544: The president cited wasteful military spending and interdepartmental conflicts. Deliberations in Congress went on for months focusing heavily on the role of the military in society and the threat of granting too much military power to the executive. On July 26, 1947, Truman signed the National Security Act of 1947 , which set up a unified military command known as the National Military Establishment and created

8300-608: The president following U.S. Senate confirmation. Each of the individual Military Service Chiefs, outside their Joint Chiefs of Staff obligations, works directly for the secretary of the military department concerned: the Secretary of the Army , Secretary of the Navy , and Secretary of the Air Force . Following the Goldwater–Nichols Act in 1986, the Joint Chiefs of Staff no longer maintained operational command authority individually or collectively. The act designated

8400-559: The president on military matters. The composition of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is defined by statute and consists of the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (CJCS), vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (VCJCS), senior enlisted advisor to the chairman (SEAC), the Military Service chiefs from the Army , Marine Corps , Navy , Air Force , and Space Force , in addition to the chief of National Guard Bureau , all appointed by

8500-478: The president or by the secretary of defense. Department of Defense Directive 5100.01 describes the organizational relationships within the department and is the foundational issuance for delineating the major functions of the department. The latest version, signed by former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates in December 2010, is the first major re-write since 1987. The Office of the Secretary of Defense ( OSD )

8600-470: The president with the advice and consent of the Senate , is by federal law ( 10 U.S.C.   § 113 ) the head of the Department of Defense, "the principal assistant to the President in all matters relating to Department of Defense", and has "authority, direction, and control over the Department of Defense". Because the Constitution vests all military authority in Congress and the president,

8700-570: The president. The Joint Staff (JS) is a headquarters staff at the Pentagon made up of personnel from all five services that assist the chairman and vice chairman in discharging their duties. It is managed by the Director of the Joint Staff (DJS) who is a lieutenant general or vice admiral . There are three military departments within the Department of Defense: The Military Departments are each headed by their secretary (i.e., Secretary of

8800-610: The protest, a famous picture was taken, where George Harris placed carnations into the soldiers' gun barrels. The march concluded with an attempt to "exorcise" the building. On 19 May 1972, the Weather Underground Organization bombed a fourth-floor women's restroom, in "retaliation" for the Nixon administration 's bombing of Hanoi in the final stages of the Vietnam War . On 17 March 2007, 4,000 to 15,000 people (estimates vary significantly) protested

8900-409: The renovation were given the added task of rebuilding the sections damaged in the attacks. This additional project was named the " Phoenix Project " and was charged with having the outermost offices of the damaged section occupied by 11 September 2002. When the damaged section of the Pentagon was repaired, a small indoor memorial and chapel were added at the point of impact. For the fifth anniversary of

9000-474: The statutory authority of the secretary of defense is derived from their constitutional authority. Since it is impractical for either Congress or the president to participate in every piece of Department of Defense affairs, the secretary of defense and the secretary's subordinate officials generally exercise military authority. The Department of Defense is composed of the Office of the Secretary of Defense ( OSD ),

9100-456: The total budgetary resources for fiscal year 2010 were $ 1.2 trillion. Of these resources, $ 1.1 trillion were obligated and $ 994 billion were disbursed, with the remaining resources relating to multi-year modernization projects requiring additional time to procure. After over a decade of non-compliance , Congress has established a deadline of Fiscal year 2017 for the Department of Defense to achieve audit readiness . In 2015

9200-413: The total to over 2.91  million employees. Headquartered at the Pentagon in Arlington County, Virginia , just outside Washington, D.C. , the Department of Defense's stated mission is "to provide the military forces needed to deter war and ensure our nation's security". The Department of Defense is headed by the secretary of defense , a cabinet-level head who reports directly to the president of

9300-564: The usual 4,500. Furthermore, the area hit, on the side of the Heliport façade, was the section best prepared for such an attack. The renovation there, improvements which resulted from the Oklahoma City bombing , had nearly been completed. It was the only area of the Pentagon with a sprinkler system, and it had been reconstructed with a web of steel columns and bars to withstand bomb blasts. The steel reinforcement, bolted together to form

9400-624: The way to the arch vaulting or ceiling; these were historically common in Italy and France, for example in the palaces for the nobility at the Quirinal Palace . A mezzanine is an intermediate floor (or floors) in a building which is open to the floor below. It is placed halfway ( mezzo means 'half' in Italian) up the wall on a floor which has a ceiling at least twice as high as a floor with minimum height. A mezzanine does not count as one of

9500-563: Was charged with unrelated improper conduct as president of the American Institute of Architects . David J. Witmer replaced Bergstrom on 11 April. Construction was completed 15 January 1943. Soil conditions of the site – on the Potomac River floodplain – presented challenges, as did the varying elevations across the site, which ranged from ten to forty ft (3 to 12 m) above sea level. Two retaining walls were built to compensate for

9600-410: Was cleared to make way for the Pentagon. Later, 300 acres (1.2 km) of land were transferred to Arlington National Cemetery and to Fort Myer , leaving 280 acres (1.1 km) for the Pentagon. Contracts totaling $ 31,100,000 (equivalent to $ 497 million in 2023) were finalized with McShain and the other contractors on 11 September 1941, and ground was broken for the Pentagon the same day. Among

9700-492: Was designed by American architect George Bergstrom and built by contractor John McShain . Ground was broken on 11 September 1941, and the building was dedicated on 15 January 1943. General Brehon Somervell provided the major impetus to gain Congressional approval for the project; Colonel Leslie Groves was responsible for overseeing the project for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers , which supervised it. The Pentagon

9800-428: Was occupied as soon as it was completed, even as construction continued on the remaining wedges. The Pentagon was designed in accordance with the racial segregation laws in force in the state of Virginia at the time, with separate eating and lavatory accommodations for white and black persons. While the sets of lavatories were side by side, the dining areas for blacks were located in the basement. When Roosevelt visited

9900-654: Was opened directly southwest of the Pentagon. The Pentagon building spans 28.7 acres (116,000 m), and includes an additional 5.1 acres (21,000 m) as a central courtyard. Starting with the north side and moving clockwise , its five façade entrances are the Mall Terrace, the River Terrace, the Concourse (or Metro Station), the South Parking, and the Heliport. On the north side of the building,

10000-536: Was stripped from them in the Defense Reorganization Act of 1958 ), and instead, Military Departments are tasked solely with "the training, provision of equipment, and administration of troops." A unified combatant command is a military command composed of personnel/equipment from at least two Military Departments, which has a broad/continuing mission. These military departments are responsible for equipping and training troops to fight, while

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