| Post: | Under Secretary |
| Body: | Defense for Personnel and Readiness |
| Flag: | Flag of the U.S. Under Secretary of Defense.svg |
| Flagcaption: | Flag of an Under Secretary of Defense |
| Incumbent: | Ashish Vazirani |
| Acting: | y |
| Incumbentsince: | 8 September 2023 |
| Department: | Department of Defense |
| Abbreviation: | USD (P&R) |
| Member Of: | Office of the Secretary of Defense |
| Reports To: | Secretary of Defense |
| Appointer: | The President |
| Appointer Qualified: | with Senate advice and consent |
| Termlength: | At the pleasure of the President |
| First: | Edwin Dorn |
| Salary: | $165,300 |
The under secretary of defense for personnel and readiness, or USD (P&R) is a high-ranking civilian position in the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) within the United States Department of Defense responsible for advising the secretary and deputy secretary of defense on recruitment, career development, pay and benefits, and oversight of the state of military readiness. The under secretary is appointed from civilian life by the president and confirmed by the Senate to serve at the pleasure of the President.
Ashish Vazirani is the current acting under secretary of defense for personnel and readiness, serving since 8 September 2023. Additionally, he exercises day-to-day supervision of the Department of Defense Education Activity and the Defense Commissary Agency.[1]
The previous most recent under secretary was Gil Cisneros, who served from 24 August 2021 to 8 September 2023.
The Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness (OUSD(P&R)) is the principal staff element for the Department of Defense for all human resources, human capital development, and personnel logistics matters. The USD(P&R) has oversight of the Defense Commissary Agency, Department of Defense Education Activity, Defense Human Resources Activity, the Military Health System, and the Defense Travel Management Office. The USD(P&R) is also responsible for training, health affairs, National Guard and Reserve affairs, personnel requirements for weapons support, and military and civilian family matters, subject to the authority of the Secretary of Defense.[2] Through the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Military Personnel Policy, the United States Military Entrance Processing Command also reports to the Under Secretary.[3]
With the rank of Under Secretary, the USD(P&R) is a Level III position within the Executive Schedule. Since January 2010, the annual rate of pay for Level III is $165,300.
The position was first mandated by the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1994 (P.L. 103-160), signed by President Clinton on 30 November 1993.[4] Defense Directive 5124.2, passed 17 March 1994, officially established the position, incorporating the functions of the Assistant Secretary of Defense(Force Management and Personnel) and authorizing authority over the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Reserve Affairs and the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs. Since the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2000 was signed on 5 October 1999, the Under Secretary has been responsible for establishing standards on deployment of units away from assigned duty stations, the length of time they may be away for a deployment away from assigned duty stations, and for establishing systems for reporting tracking deployments.[5]
When created in 1993, the USD(P&R) assumed authority primarily over three DoD offices: the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Reserve Affairs, and Assistant Secretary of Defense for Force Management Policy. The ASD(FMP) has since been abolished, its responsibilities assumed by other officials reporting to the USD(P&R).
Officials reporting to the USD (P&R) include:
The annual budget for the USD (P&R) is contained in the Office of the Secretary of Defense's (OSD) budget, under the Defense-Wide Operation and Maintenance (O&M) account.
| Line Item | FY10 Actual | FY11 Estimate | FY12 Request |
|---|---|---|---|
| Core OSD Operating Program[7] | |||
| Civilian Pay and Benefits, USD (P&R) | 23,688 | 35,457 | 24,816 |
| Program Structure[8] | |||
| Contracts and other Support Services | 1,000 | 1,007 | 995 |
| Advancing Diversity and Equal Opportunity Program | 8,500 | 8,925 | 9,667 |
| Assistant Secretary of Defense (Health Affairs) | 2,219 | 2,393 | 1,131 |
| Assistant Secretary of Defense (Reserve Affairs) | 2,364 | 2,691 | 2,018 |
| Combatant Commander's Exercise | 688,632 | 760,837 | 766,450 |
| Defense Safety Oversight Council | 10,692 | 12,615 | 12,550 |
| Defense Readiness Reporting System | 13,354 | 6,900 | 3,882 |
| Lost Work Days System | 3,230 | 3,060 | 3,032 |
| Military Personnel Policy Naturalization Support | 5,799 | 6,345 | 6,463 |
| Military Spouse Intern Program | 0 | 17,500 | 16,689 |
| Studies Program | 0 | 2,820 | 2,792 |
| Training Transformation | 6,563 | 6,035 | 5,112 |
| Wounded Warrior Care and Transition Policy | 43,664 | 79,412 | 77,623 |
| Travel | 1,338 | 1,402 | 817 |
| Overseas Contingency Operations[9] | |||
| OCO OUSD (Intel) | 2,064 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | |||
| Total Budget | 813,107 | 947,399 | 934,037 |
| No. | Portrait | Name | Tenure | Secretary(ies) of Defense Served Under | President(s) Served Under |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 16 March 1994 – 7 July 1997 | Bill Clinton | |||
| William Cohen | |||||
| 2 | 5 August 1997 – 31 March 2000 | ||||
| - | Charles Cragin (acting) | 31 March 2000 – 23 May 2000 | |||
| 3 | 23 May 2000 – 19 January 2001 | ||||
| 4 | 1 June 2001 – 20 January 2009 | George W. Bush | |||
| Robert Gates | |||||
| - | Gail H. McGinn (acting) | 21 January 2009 – 8 February 2010 | Barack Obama | ||
| 5 | 9 February 2010 – 27 October 2011 | ||||
| Leon Panetta[10] [11] | |||||
| - | Jo Ann Rooney (acting)[12] | 27 October 2011 – 8 June 2012 | |||
| 6 | 8 June 2012 – 31 December 2012 | ||||
| 7 | 1 January 2013 – 31 March 2015 | ||||
| Chuck Hagel | |||||
| Ash Carter | |||||
| - | Brad Carson (acting) | 2 April 2015 – 8 April 2016 | |||
| - | Peter Levine (acting) | 8 April 2016 – 20 January 2017 | |||
| - | Anthony Kurta (acting) | 20 January 2017 – 30 November 2017 | Donald Trump | ||
| 8 | 30 November 2017 – 30 July 2018 | ||||
| - | Stephanie Barna (acting) | 30 July 2018 – 22 October 2018 | |||
| - | James N. Stewart (acting) | 22 October 2018 – 13 December 2019 | |||
| Mark Esper | |||||
| - | Matthew Donovan (acting) | 13 December 2019 – 2 March 2020 | |||
| - | Alexis Lasselle Ross (acting) | 3 March 2020 – 23 March 2020 | |||
| 9 | 23 March 2020 – 20 January 2021 | ||||
| - | Virginia S. Penrod (acting) | 20 January 2021 – 24 August 2021[13] | Joe Biden | ||
| 10 | 24 August 2021 – 8 September 2023 | ||||
| - | Ashish Vazirani (acting) | 8 September 2023 – present |
The Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness (PDUSD(P&R)) is the Under Secretary's chief staff assistant. PDUSD (P&R) is delegated full power and authority to act for the USD(P&R) and exercise the powers of the USD(P&R) on any and all matters that the USD(P&R) is authorized to act, except in those areas where delegation of the USD(P&R) authority is otherwise restricted by higher authority or prohibited by law.
Established as the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense (Personnel and Readiness) by the National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2002 (P.L. 107-107), the post took over the duties of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Force Management Policy, which was then abolished. The DUSD(P&R) was re-designated Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense (Personnel and Readiness), or PDUSD(P&R) in July 2003 by DoD Directive 5124.8. As of 2012, the position again holds the rank of Principal Deputy Under Secretary.
| Name | Tenure | scope"col" width="180" | USD(P&R) served under | SecDef(s) served under | President(s) served under |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charles S. Abell | 14 November 2002 – 11 July 2006 | George W. Bush | |||
| Michael L. Dominguez | 11 July 2006 – 20 January 2009 | ||||
| William J. Carr (acting) | 20 January 2009 – 8 February 2010 | Michael L. Dominguez (acting) | Barack Obama | ||
| Lynn C. Simpson (performing the duties of) | 8 February 2010 – 2 June 2011 | Gail McGinn (acting) | |||
| Jo Ann Rooney | 2 June 2011 - 24 May 2012 | Leon Panetta | |||
| Vacant | 24 May 2012 – 30 July 2014 | Jessica L. Wright (acting) | Chuck Hagel | ||
| Laura Junor | 31 July 2014 – May 2015 | Jessica L. Wright Brad Carson (acting) | Chuck Hagel Ashton Carter | ||
| William G. Bushman (performing the duties of) | 29 June 2019 – 20 January 2021 | James N. Stewart (acting) Matthew Donovan (acting) Alexis Lasselle Ross (acting) Matthew Donovan | Donald Trump | ||
| Julie Blanks (performing the duties of) | 20 January 2021 – 13 July 2022 | Joe Biden | |||
| Ashish Vazirani | 13 July 2022 – | Gil Cisneros | |||