# Assistant Secretary of Defense for Readiness and Force Management

The Assistant Secretary of Defense for Readiness and Force Management, or ASD(R&FM), is a Defense Department position responsible for civilian and military personnel policy, readiness of the force, military community and family policy and diversity management and equal opportunity.
Its predecessor, the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Force Management Policy, or ASD(FMP), was a high-ranking position in the Defense Department responsible for the policies, plans and programs for military and civilian personnel management, including recruitment, education, career development, equal opportunity, compensation, recognition, discipline and separation of all Department of Defense personnel. The ASD(FMP) reported directly to the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, or USD(P&R). The ASD(FMP) was replaced in 2002 by a new Deputy Under Secretary position, which is today known as the Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness.

## History

An Assistant Secretary of Defense was first assigned oversight of DoD manpower, personnel and reserve affairs in 1950. Defense Directive 5124.1, signed 20 April 1977, also delegated oversight of logistics to this position. Following the FY 1984 Defense Authorization Act, the reserve affairs functions were transferred to the new Assistant Secretary of Defense for Reserve Affairs. Meanwhile, installations and logistics functions transferred to a new Assistant Secretary of Defense (Acquisition and Logistics) in July 1985.
From the mid-80s to mid-90s, the position was responsible for military and civilian manpower training, family matters, and review of manpower requirements, both military and civilian, and also exercised direction of equal opportunity matters. After the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1994 (P.L. 103-160) established the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, this position was redesignated the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Force Management Policy, and served as a staff assistant to the USD(P&R). The position was abolished in November 2002 when the new Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness took office. The portfolio of the former ASD(FMP) is today distributed across a Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness (previously known as the Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense) and five Deputy Assistant Secretaries of Defense (previously known as Deputy Under Secretaries of Defense).

## 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 (Force Management Policy) :
| Name | Tenure | SecDef(s) Served Under | President(s) Served Under |
| Assistant Secretary of Defense (Manpower and Personnel) ||||
| Anna M. Rosenberg | November 15, 1950 – January 20, 1953 | George C. Marshall Robert A. Lovett | Harry Truman |
| John A. Hannah | February 11, 1953 – July 31, 1954 | Charles E. Wilson | Dwight Eisenhower |
| Carter L. Burgess | September 24, 1954 – September, 1955 | Charles E. Wilson | Dwight Eisenhower |
| Assistant Secretary of Defense (Manpower, Personnel, and Reserve) ||||
| Carter L. Burgess | September, 1955 – January 22, 1957 | Charles E. Wilson | Dwight Eisenhower |
| William H. Francis | April 19, 1957 – May 24, 1958 | Charles E. Wilson Neil H. McElroy | Dwight Eisenhower |
| Charles O. Finucane | July 15, 1958 – January 19, 1961 | Neil H. McElroy Thomas S. Gates | Dwight Eisenhower |
| Assistant Secretary of Defense (Manpower) ||||
| Carlisle P. Runge | February 17, 1961 – July 30, 1962 | Robert S. McNamara | John F. Kennedy |
| Norman S. Paul | August 8, 1962 – September 30, 1965 | Robert S. McNamara | John F. Kennedy Lyndon Johnson |
| Thomas D. Morris | October 1, 1965 – August 31, 1967 | Robert S. McNamara | Lyndon Johnson |
| Alfred B. Fitt | October 9, 1967 – December 31, 1967 | Robert S. McNamara | Lyndon Johnson |
| Assistant Secretary of Defense (Manpower and Reserve Affairs) ||||
| Alfred B. Fitt | January 1, 1968 – February 20, 1969 | Robert S. McNamara Clark M. Clifford Melvin R. Laird | Lyndon Johnson Richard Nixon |
| Roger T. Kelley | March 3, 1969 – June 1, 1973 | Melvin R. Laird Elliot L. Richardson | Richard Nixon |
| Carl W. Clewlow (Acting) | June 1, 1973 – September 1, 1973 | Elliot L. Richardson James R. Schlesinger | Richard Nixon |
| William K. Brehm | September 1, 1973 – March 18, 1976 | James R. Schlesinger Donald H. Rumsfeld | Richard Nixon Gerald Ford |
| David P. Taylor | July 7, 1976 – February 12, 1977 | Donald H. Rumsfeld Harold Brown | Gerald Ford Jimmy Carter |
| Assistant Secretary of Defense (Manpower, Reserve Affairs, and Logistics) ||||
| John P. White | May 11, 1977 – October 31, 1978 | Harold Brown | Jimmy Carter |
| Robert B. Pirie, Jr. | June 17, 1979 – January 20, 1981 | Harold Brown | Jimmy Carter |
| Lawrence J. Korb | May 4, 1981 – January 12, 1984 | Caspar W. Weinberger | Ronald Reagan |
| Assistant Secretary of Defense (Manpower, Installations, and Logistics) ||||
| Lawrence J. Korb | January 12, 1984 – July 5, 1985 | Caspar W. Weinberger | Ronald Reagan |
| Assistant Secretary of Defense (Force Management and Personnel) ||||
| Lawrence J. Korb | July 5, 1985 – August 31, 1985 | Caspar W. Weinberger | Ronald Reagan |
| Chapman B. Cox | December 7, 1985 – July 8, 1987 | Caspar W. Weinberger | Ronald Reagan |
| Grant S. Green, Jr. | February 3, 1988 – March 5, 1989 | Frank C. Carlucci III William H. Taft IV (Acting) | Ronald Reagan George H. W. Bush |
| Christopher Jehn | November 20, 1989 – January 20, 1993 | Richard B. Cheney | George H. W. Bush |
| Edwin Dorn | July 2, 1993 – March 16, 1994 | Leslie Aspin, Jr. William J. Perry | Bill Clinton |
| Assistant Secretary of Defense (Force Management Policy) ||||
| Frederick F. Y. Pang | October 11, 1994 – November 15, 1997 | William J. Perry William S. Cohen | Bill Clinton |
| Francis M. Rush, Jr. (Acting) | November 15, 1997 – November 12, 1999 | William S. Cohen | Bill Clinton |
| Alphonso Maldon, Jr. | November 12, 1999 – January 19, 2001 | William S. Cohen | Bill Clinton |
| Charles S. Abell | May 8, 2001 – November 14, 2002 | Donald H. Rumsfeld | George W. Bush |
| Assistant Secretary of Defense (Readiness and Force Management) ||||
| Frederick E. Vollrath (Acting) | March 26, 2012 – April 18, 2013 | Leon Panetta Chuck Hagel | Barack Obama |
| Frederick E. Vollrath | April 19, 2013 – June 14, 2014 | Chuck Hagel | Barack Obama |
| Stephanie Barna (Acting) | June 14, 2014 – April 8, 2016 | Chuck Hagel Ashton Carter | Barack Obama |
| Dan Feehan (Acting) | April 8, 2016 – January 20, 2017 | Ashton Carter | Barack Obama |
| Assistant Secretary of Defense (Readiness) ||||
| Veronica Daigle | June 2019 – January 31, 2020 | Mark Esper | Donald Trump |
| Tom Constable (Acting) | January 31, 2020 – July 22, 2021 | Mark Esper Christopher C. Miller (Acting) David Norquist Lloyd Austin | Donald Trump Joe Biden |
| Shawn Skelly | July 22, 2021 – January 20, 2025 | Lloyd Austin | Joe Biden |
| Jules W. Hurst III (Acting) | January 20, 2025 - Present | Pete Hegseth | Donald Trump |