Assessing the Effects of Organizational Changes within the Office of the Secretary of Defense on the Nuclear Mission

A series of organizational changes within the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) since the Cold Wars end arguably fostered a devolution of focus on the nuclear enterprise. This culminated with inexcusable incidents that questioned the credibility of the United States nuclear enterprise. Throug...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Ortiz,Marc Anthony C
Format: Report
Language:English
Subjects:
acquisition
agreements
department of defense
military personnel
national security
Nuclear Enterprise
nuclear warheads
nuclear weapons
Office of the Secretary of Defense
Organizational Changes
task forces
treaties
united states strategic command
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Summary:A series of organizational changes within the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) since the Cold Wars end arguably fostered a devolution of focus on the nuclear enterprise. This culminated with inexcusable incidents that questioned the credibility of the United States nuclear enterprise. Through a content analysis of reports, directives, and historical documents with interviews of Department of Defense (DoD) personnel, this research found that the organizational changes drove a dissolution of critical OSD offices that had played a critical role in nuclear policy and decision, which negatively affected the nuclear enterprise. Furthermore, efforts to reduce OSD staff personnel and assess OSD organizational performance, while positive in nature, may also have a negative effect on the nuclear enterprise if not executed with prudence.