Delegation of Authority Matrix For Civilian Personnel Management

Under 5 United States Code 302, the Secretary of the Army (SA) has broad authority to act on matters pertaining to the employment, direction and general administration of employees and civilian personnel programs within the Department of the Army (DA). By General Order 3, dated 9 July 2002, the SA has delegated generally this authority to the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Manpower and Reserve Affairs) who is responsible for further delegating the authority as appropriate. This authority is often referred to simply as "appointing authority".

Other laws and regulations make the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) responsible for certain civilian personnel policies and programs. Where appropriate, they delegate specific program responsibilities to Federal agencies and/or the Department of Defense components and, in many instances, permit re-delegation.

Except when retained by higher-level officials, civilian personnel authorities usually are delegated to major Army command (MACOM) commanders for positions and employees within their purview and to the Administrative Assistant to the Secretary of the Army for positions and employees of Headquarters, DA (HQDA) and other non-MACOM elements. In turn, they re-delegate these authorities through their command channels to activity commanders or their civilian equivalents to the extent practical.

The Delegation of Authority Matrix lists significant delegations of civilian personnel authorities within the DA and provides hyperlinks to documents containing the delegations. HQDA is in process of revising and updating most of these authorities consistent with changes to the Army's structure. The matrix will be updated as changes occur.