The position of the General Counsel of the Department
of Defense was established by the Reorganization Plan No. 6 of 1953
and by Defense Directive 5145.1, August 24, 1953. The position was
derived from one of the original three Special Assistants to the
Secretary (1947) and the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Legal and
Legislative Affairs) (1949).
Congress accepted Reorganization Plan No. 6, and it became effective
on June 30, 1953. Reorganization Plan No. 6 established the General
Counsel of the Department of Defense as substantially equivalent
in rank to the Assistant Secretaries of Defense. The authority of
the General Counsel as the Department's Chief Legal Officer is codified in
10 U.S.C. §140.
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