The following is the history of the Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Nuclear and Chemical and Biological Defense Programs (ATSD(NCB)) and the Office of the Deputy Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Nuclear Matters (ODATSD)(NM)). In 1951, the Secretary of Defense moved the MLC to the Pentagon and designated its chairman as the Deputy to the Secretary of Defense for Atomic Energy Matters. In 1953, this position was re-designated under DoD Directive 5130.2 as the Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Atomic Energy
|
---|
From 1982-1996, the role of the ATSD(AE) expanded to include issues associated with chemical and biological weapons, implementation of arms control treaties and agreements, counterproliferation programs, and the Cooperative Threat Reduction (CTR) program to assist in the elimination of WMD in the former Soviet states. In addition, the ATSD(AE) was given control over the Defense Nuclear Agency (DNA) in 1994. (DNA is now known as the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA).) Between 1997 and 2001, the Administration declined to nominate anyone to serve as the ATSD(NCB), having determined, as part of the Defense Reform Initiative, that the position should be eliminated. Congress, however, continued to maintain during this time that the position was necessary to ensure appropriate senior-level policy oversight and implementation guidance within the Department. While the ATSD(NCB) position was vacant, the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics (USD(AT&L)) assumed the responsibilities of the ATSD(NCB). The USD(AT&L) delegated many of the ATSD(NCB) nuclear weapons-related duties to the Director of Defense Research and Engineering (DDR&E) until November 2001, when the ATSD(NCB) position was again filled. The DATSD(NM) reported to the USD(AT&L) through the DDR&E during this vacancy. |
---|
|
Top of Page |
|
|||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||