The Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs, or ASD(PA) is the principal staff advisor and assistant to the Secretary of Defense

United States Secretary of Defense

The Secretary of Defense is the head and chief executive officer of the Department of Defense of the United States of America. This position corresponds to what is generally known as a Defense Minister in other countries...

 and Deputy Secretary of Defense

United States Deputy Secretary of Defense

The Deputy Secretary of Defense is the second-highest ranking official in the Department of Defense of the United States of America. The Deputy Secretary of Defense is appointed by the President, with the advice and consent of the Senate...

 for public information, internal information, community relations, information training, and audiovisual matters in support of Department of Defense

United States Department of Defense

The United States Department of Defense is the U.S...

 activities, leading a worldwide public affairs community of some 3,800 military

Military

A military is an organization authorized by its greater society to use lethal force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or perceived threats. The military may have additional functions of use to its greater society, such as advancing a political agenda e.g...

 and civilian

Civilian

A civilian under international humanitarian law is a person who is not a member of his or her country's armed forces or other militia. Civilians are distinct from combatants. They are afforded a degree of legal protection from the effects of war and military occupation...

 personnel. The Assistant Secretary follows the Secretary's Principles of Information in providing Defense Department

United States Department of Defense

The United States Department of Defense is the U.S...

 information to the public, the United States Congress

United States Congress

The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....

 and the media

News media

The news media are those elements of the mass media that focus on delivering news to the general public or a target public.These include print media , broadcast news , and more recently the Internet .-Etymology:A medium is a carrier of something...

.

The current ASD(PA) is Douglas B. Wilson, who previously served as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs under former Defense Secretary William S. Cohen.

The ASD (PA) is the principal but not the sole spokesperson for the Department. In July of 2011, the ASD (PA) announced the appointment of two additional spokespersons for the Department. George E. Little

George E. Little

George E. Little was appointed by Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta as deputy assistant secretary of defense/press secretary of the Department of Defense on July 19, 2011.- Professional career :...

, one of two Deputy Assistant Secretaries of Defense for Public Affairs, serves concurrently as the Pentagon Press Secretary. Navy Captain John Kirby, former spokesman for Admiral Michael Mullen, the former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, now serves as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Media Operations and Spokesman. Both Little and Kirby serve as spokesmen for the Secretary of Defense and for the Department.

Roles and Responsibilities

The ASD(PA) manages the following critical functions: community and public outreach, press operations, speechwriting, news analysis, communications planning. The ASD(PA):

• Serves as the principal spokesperson for the Department of Defense and is the sole release authority for official DoD information to news media representatives.
• Ensures free flow of information to the news media, service members and families, Congress, our partners, and the general public at large.
• Develops and maintains relationships with the news media based on trust and integrity, on behalf of the Department leadership, to ensure honest forthright reporting about the Department.
• Provides the critical link between DoD and the American people to ensure the efforts of service members are told in a timely and accurate manner and that information is only constrained by national security requirements.
• Responsible for ensuring media representatives are given maximum access to ongoing military operations, including in Iraq and Afghanistan, to provide fair and accurate reporting.
• Develops communications policies, plans, and programs in support of DoD objectives and operations.
• Integrates social and online media tools into the department’s communication strategy to maximize our ability to communicate timely information to traditional and non-traditional audiences.

In addition, the ASD(PA) exercises authority, direction, and control over the Defense Media Activity (DMA). DMA provides news and information to our over one million service members stationed at home and around the world via broadcast, radio, web, and periodicals. DMA also trains DoD and other Federal Department public affairs professionals.

The ASD(PA) is supported by the following divisions:

Press Operations

• Provides expert advice and counsel to the Secretary of Defense, the Deputy Secretary, the Under Secretaries and every key organization with the DoD to ensure timely and accurate information is provided to the media, Congress, and the public at large.
• In 2010, conducted more than 200 press briefings in the Pentagon Briefing Room per year including 13 briefings by the Secretary of Defense; supported 41 press briefings during Secretary of Defense travels.
• Coordinates and releases approximately 1,250 news releases/advisories a year.
• Arranges more than 1,200 media interviews and responded to thousands of queries, resulting in a countless number of press articles, broadcasts, and online media postings.
• Provides guidance to the communications shops for all the Services, CoComs and Under Secretaries of Defense on media issues to include formal exercise and contingency operations public affairs guidance.

News Analysis

• Publishes the Early Bird, a daily representative, balanced and impartial sampling of articles, broadcast segments, and online reporting/commentary reflecting important developments about the Department.
• Ensures this daily news compendium remains useful to senior DoD decision makers and that it adapts to the changing news media landscape.

Speechwriting

• Prepares more than 50 major speeches and congressional testimonies each year to communicate the Secretary’s goals and priorities for the Department in a way that has impact in the media, the general public and within the U.S. military.

Communications Planning and Integration (CPI)

• Interfaces with planners in OSD Policy, Joint Staff, CoCOMs, military services, and the inter-agency to develop communication plans and strategies that accurately reflect U.S. policy goals, objectives and facts.
• Serves as the key communication planning integrator for the DoD and serves as its lead on communication planning interactions with other U.S. Government elements.

Community Relations

• Maintains engagement with more than 200 national, regional and local nonprofit organizations that support our service members and military families and provides guidance and counsel to worldwide DoD offices overseeing 2,300 Family Readiness volunteers and coordinators.
• Receives and responds to over 50,000 public queries annually via web, phone, hard copy letters; responds to 2,900 annual public requests for commercial use of DoD imagery.
• Responds to approximately 800 queries per year from non-profit/VSO leadership, congressional offices.
• Conducts the Pentagon tour program for 136,000 visitors per year.
• Conducts the Joint Civilian Orientation Conference (JCOC), a twice annual five-day program that connects prominent business and community leaders with senior military officials and troops on the ground.

DMA

• Communicates messages from senior DoD leaders to support and improve quality of life and morale, promote situational awareness, provide timely and immediate force protection information, and sustain readiness. DMA consists of 2,400 employees and has an annual budget of more than $200 million to provide the following services:
• American Forces Radio and Television Service (AFRTS) broadcasts multiple television and radio channels providing a “touch of home" for nearly one million members of the military and their families deployed or stationed in 177 countries to include in Afghanistan and Iraq and aboard Navy ships.
• American Forces Press Service covers and produces print and imagery products covering DoD, JCS, Combatant Command events, news, and information that are posted continuously in real-time to the primary DoD public web sites.
• Stars and Stripes is a news and information organization that serves military audiences world-wide. Annual distribution of the newspaper is 33 million copies. Stripes is a journalistic and editorially independent publication provided free to deployed troops.
• The Pentagon Channel (TPC) provides continuous television coverage of DoD senior leader events, policies, and programs through cable and satellite service to 30 million households in the United States.
• Defense Visual Imagery Management Operations Center (DIMOC) collects, distributes and archives on a real-time basis combat camera still and motion imagery depicting U.S. military activities and operations worldwide.
• Defense Information School provides initial and advanced public affairs and visual information training for military and civilian students of all Services and International partners. DINFOS has an annual student load of more than 3200 students and 30 courses of study.
• Public Web supports and manages the hosting for nearly 600 OSD, JCS, Combatant Command, and Military Service public-facing web sites.

History

This position was originally established as the Assistant to the Secretary (Director, Office of Public Information) by Secretary James V. Forrestal in July 1948. After Reorganization Plan No.6 of 30 June 1953 increased the number of assistant secretaries, Defense Directive 5122.1 of September 1953 redesignated the post as Assistant Secretary of Defense (Legislative and Public Affairs)

This position was abolished in February 1957, and functions were divided between two new posts, the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs) and an Assistant Secretary of Defense (Legislative Affairs)

Assistant Secretary of Defense for Legislative Affairs

The Assistant Secretary of Defense for Legislative Affairs, or ASD is the head of the Office of the Secretary of Defense for Legislative Affairs, responsible for providing support to the Secretary of Defense in his/her dealings with the United States Congress...

. ASD(PA) was established by Defense Directive 5105.13 of 10 August 1957.

In 1993, the position was changed to Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs, by Defense Directive 5122.5. This bureaucratic distinction was dropped after the National Defense Authorization Act for FY1995 (P.L. 103-337) increased the number of assistant secretaries from 10 to 11. Today, the post is titled Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs), referred to as the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs, and abbreviated as ASD(PA).

Office Holders

The table below includes both the various titles of this post over time, as well as all the holders of those offices.

Assistant Secretaries of Defense (Public Affiars)

Name	Tenure	SecDef(s) Served Under	President(s) Served Under
Assistant to the Secretary (Director, Office of Public Information)
Harold B. Hinton	July 19, 1948 - March 12, 1949	James V. Forrestal	Harry Truman
William Frye	March 12, 1949 - February 19, 1950	James V. Forrestal  Louis A. Johnson Louis A. Johnson Louis Arthur Johnson was the second United States Secretary of Defense, serving in the cabinet of President Harry S. Truman from March 28, 1949 to September 19, 1950....	Harry Truman
Osgood Roberts (Acting)	February 20, 1950 - January 24, 1951	Louis A. Johnson Louis A. Johnson Louis Arthur Johnson was the second United States Secretary of Defense, serving in the cabinet of President Harry S. Truman from March 28, 1949 to September 19, 1950....   George C. Marshall	Harry Truman
Clayton Fritchey Clayton Fritchey Clayton Fritchey was an American journalist who spent many years in public service.Clayton Fritchey was born in 1904 in Bellefontaine, Ohio. At the age of 2 he moved to Baltimore. His reporting career began at age 19 and by age 21 he had become the managing editor of The Baltimore Post. In later...	January 25, 1951 - June 1, 1952	George C. Marshall  Robert A. Lovett Robert A. Lovett Robert Abercrombie Lovett was the fourth United States Secretary of Defense, serving in the cabinet of President Harry S. Truman from 1951 to 1953 and in this capacity, directed the Korean War. Promoted to the position from deputy secretary of defense Domhoff described Lovett as a "Cold War...	Harry Truman
Andrew H. Berding Andrew H. Berding Andrew Henry Berding was United States Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs from 1957 to 1961.-Biography:Berding was educated at the University of Oxford. He worked as a newspaper correspondent and writer...	July 1, 1952 - November 18, 1953	Robert A. Lovett Robert A. Lovett Robert Abercrombie Lovett was the fourth United States Secretary of Defense, serving in the cabinet of President Harry S. Truman from 1951 to 1953 and in this capacity, directed the Korean War. Promoted to the position from deputy secretary of defense Domhoff described Lovett as a "Cold War...   Charles E. Wilson Charles Erwin Wilson Charles Erwin Wilson , American businessman and politician, was United States Secretary of Defense from 1953 to 1957 under President Eisenhower. Known as "Engine Charlie", he previously worked as CEO for General Motors. In the wake of the Korean War, he cut the defense budget significantly.-Early...	Harry Truman  Dwight Eisenhower
Assistant Secretary of Defense (Legislative and Public Affairs)
Frederick A. Seaton Fred Andrew Seaton Frederick Andrew Seaton was United States Secretary of the Interior during Dwight Eisenhower's administration.-Biography:Seaton was born in Washington, D.C., but grew up and attended high school in Manhattan, Kansas...	September 15, 1953 - February 20, 1955	Charles E. Wilson Charles Erwin Wilson Charles Erwin Wilson , American businessman and politician, was United States Secretary of Defense from 1953 to 1957 under President Eisenhower. Known as "Engine Charlie", he previously worked as CEO for General Motors. In the wake of the Korean War, he cut the defense budget significantly.-Early...	Dwight Eisenhower
Robert Tripp Ross Robert Tripp Ross Robert Tripp Ross was a United States Representative from New York. Born in Washington, Beaufort County, North Carolina, he attended the public schools, moved to New York City in 1929, and engaged as a druggist...	March 15, 1955 - February 20, 1957	Charles E. Wilson Charles Erwin Wilson Charles Erwin Wilson , American businessman and politician, was United States Secretary of Defense from 1953 to 1957 under President Eisenhower. Known as "Engine Charlie", he previously worked as CEO for General Motors. In the wake of the Korean War, he cut the defense budget significantly.-Early...	Dwight Eisenhower
Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs)
Murray Snyder	March 21, 1957 - January 20, 1961	Charles E. Wilson Charles Erwin Wilson Charles Erwin Wilson , American businessman and politician, was United States Secretary of Defense from 1953 to 1957 under President Eisenhower. Known as "Engine Charlie", he previously worked as CEO for General Motors. In the wake of the Korean War, he cut the defense budget significantly.-Early...   Neil H. McElroy Neil H. McElroy Neil Hosler McElroy was United States Secretary of Defense from 1957 to 1959 under President Eisenhower. He had been president of Procter & Gamble.- Early life :...   Thomas S. Gates	Dwight Eisenhower
Arthur Sylvester	January 20, 1961 - February 3, 1967	Robert S. McNamara	John F. Kennedy John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....   Lyndon Johnson
Philip G. Goulding	February 28, 1967 - January 20, 1969	Robert S. McNamara  Clark M. Clifford	Lyndon Johnson
Daniel Z. Henkin	January 20, 1969 - May 25, 1969 (Acting) May 25, 1969 - January 20, 1973	Melvin R. Laird Melvin R. Laird Melvin Robert Laird is an American politician and writer. Laird was a Republican congressman who also served as Richard Nixon's Secretary of Defense from 1969 to 1973. Laird urged Nixon to maintain a policy of withdrawing US soldiers from Vietnam...	Richard Nixon Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
Jerry W. Friedheim	January 20, 1973 - April 13, 1973 (Acting) April 13, 1973 - September 20, 1974	Melvin R. Laird Melvin R. Laird Melvin Robert Laird is an American politician and writer. Laird was a Republican congressman who also served as Richard Nixon's Secretary of Defense from 1969 to 1973. Laird urged Nixon to maintain a policy of withdrawing US soldiers from Vietnam...   Elliot L. Richardson  James R. Schlesinger James R. Schlesinger Dr. James Rodney Schlesinger is an American politician. He is best known for serving as Secretary of Defense from 1973 to 1975 under Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford...	Richard Nixon Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...   Gerald Ford Gerald Ford Gerald Rudolph "Jerry" Ford, Jr. was the 38th President of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977, and the 40th Vice President of the United States serving from 1973 to 1974...
William Beecher (Acting)	September 21, 1974 - February 11, 1975	James R. Schlesinger James R. Schlesinger Dr. James Rodney Schlesinger is an American politician. He is best known for serving as Secretary of Defense from 1973 to 1975 under Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford...	Gerald Ford Gerald Ford Gerald Rudolph "Jerry" Ford, Jr. was the 38th President of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977, and the 40th Vice President of the United States serving from 1973 to 1974...
Joseph Laitin	February 12, 1975 - December 19, 1975	James R. Schlesinger James R. Schlesinger Dr. James Rodney Schlesinger is an American politician. He is best known for serving as Secretary of Defense from 1973 to 1975 under Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford...   Donald H. Rumsfeld	Gerald Ford Gerald Ford Gerald Rudolph "Jerry" Ford, Jr. was the 38th President of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977, and the 40th Vice President of the United States serving from 1973 to 1974...
William I. Greener, Jr.	December 21, 1975 - July 31, 1976	Donald H. Rumsfeld	Gerald Ford Gerald Ford Gerald Rudolph "Jerry" Ford, Jr. was the 38th President of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977, and the 40th Vice President of the United States serving from 1973 to 1974...
M. Alan Woods	August 6, 1976 - January 21, 1977	Donald H. Rumsfeld	Gerald Ford Gerald Ford Gerald Rudolph "Jerry" Ford, Jr. was the 38th President of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977, and the 40th Vice President of the United States serving from 1973 to 1974...
Thomas B. Ross	March 7, 1977 - January 20, 1981	Harold Brown Harold Brown (Secretary of Defense) Harold Brown , American scientist, was U.S. Secretary of Defense from 1977 to 1981 in the cabinet of President Jimmy Carter. He had previously served in the Lyndon Johnson administration as Director of Defense Research and Engineering and Secretary of the Air Force.While Secretary of Defense, he...	Jimmy Carter Jimmy Carter James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...
Henry E. Catto, Jr. Henry E. Catto, Jr. Henry Edward Catto, Jr. is an American businessman and public servant.A native of San Antonio, Texas and son of a prominent insurance man, he was educated at T.M.I.—The Episcopal School of Texas, graduating in 1948, and at Williams College, graduating in 1952. In the early 1960s, Catto twice ran...	May 22, 1981 - September 16, 1983	Caspar W. Weinberger	Ronald Reagan Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
Benjamin Welles (Acting)	September 17, 1983 - November 1, 1983	Caspar W. Weinberger	Ronald Reagan Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
Mary Lou Sheils (Acting)	November 2, 1983 - November 22, 1983	Caspar W. Weinberger	Ronald Reagan Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
Michael I. Burch	November 23, 1983 - June 22, 1985	Caspar W. Weinberger	Ronald Reagan Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
Fred Hoffman (Acting)	June 23, 1985 - October 1, 1985	Caspar W. Weinberger	Ronald Reagan Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
Robert B. Sims	October 18, 1985 - September 20, 1987	Caspar W. Weinberger	Ronald Reagan Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
Fred Hoffman (Acting)	September 21, 1987 - February 2, 1988	Caspar W. Weinberger  Frank C. Carlucci III	Ronald Reagan Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
J. Daniel Howard J. Daniel Howard J. Daniel Howard was Special Assistant to President of the United States Ronald Reagan from July 1986 to February 1988, United States Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs from February 1988 to May 1989 and Under Secretary of the Navy from 1989 to 1993.-Early years, 1943—1974:J. Daniel...	February 3, 1988 - March 21, 1989	Frank C. Carlucci III  William H. Taft IV William Howard Taft IV William Howard Taft IV is an attorney who has served in the United States government under several Republican administrations. He is the son of William Howard Taft III and the great-grandson of U.S. President William Howard Taft....  (Acting)	Ronald Reagan Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....   George H. W. Bush George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 41st President of the United States . He had previously served as the 43rd Vice President of the United States , a congressman, an ambassador, and Director of Central Intelligence.Bush was born in Milton, Massachusetts, to...
Louis A. "Pete" Williams	May 22, 1989 - January 20, 1993	Richard B. Cheney	George H. W. Bush George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 41st President of the United States . He had previously served as the 43rd Vice President of the United States , a congressman, an ambassador, and Director of Central Intelligence.Bush was born in Milton, Massachusetts, to...
Assistant to the Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs)
Vernon A. Guidry, Jr.	January 22, 1993 - July 18, 1993	Leslie Aspin, Jr.	Bill Clinton Bill Clinton William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
Kathleen deLaski	July 19, 1993 - August 5, 1994	Leslie Aspin, Jr.  William J. Perry	Bill Clinton Bill Clinton William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
Kenneth H. Bacon	September 20, 1994 - March 29, 1996	William J. Perry	Bill Clinton Bill Clinton William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs)
Kenneth H. Bacon	March 29, 1996 - January 19, 2001	William J. Perry  William S. Cohen	Bill Clinton Bill Clinton William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
Victoria Clarke Victoria Clarke Victoria "Torie" Clarke is an American communications consultant who has served in several private sector positions and in three Republican presidential administrations, most notably as the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs under Donald Rumsfeld.Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,...	May 22, 2001 - June 20, 2003	Donald H. Rumsfeld	George W. Bush George W. Bush George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
Lawrence Di Rita Lawrence Di Rita Lawrence Di Rita was a close aide to United States Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and is currently a spokesmen for Bank of America Corp....  (Acting)	August 10, 2003 - September 22, 2005	Donald H. Rumsfeld	George W. Bush George W. Bush George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
J. Dorrance Smith	January 5, 2006 - January 20, 2009	Donald H. Rumsfeld  Robert M. Gates	George W. Bush George W. Bush George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
Robert T. Hastings, Jr. Robert T. Hastings, Jr. Robert T. Hastings, Jr. is an American Public Relations professional who has served as an executive in several aerospace & defense corproations and as a poltical appointee in the Administration of President George W. Bush where he was the senior public affairs official and principle spokesman for...  (Acting)	March 10, 2008 - March 31, 2009	Robert M. Gates	George W. Bush George W. Bush George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
Douglas B. Wilson	February 11, 2010 -	Robert M. Gates	Barack Obama Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...

Budget Totals

The annual budget for ASD(PA) is contained in the OSD's budget, under the Defense-Wide Operation and Maintenance (O&M) account. The Obama administration is expecting funding to stay relatively constant for this position in FY12.

ASD(PA) Budget, FY 10-12 ($ in thousands)

Line Item	FY11 Estimate	FY12 Estimate
Assistant Secretary of Defense, Public Affairs	7,253	7,079