PRINCIPAL LAWS AND REGULATIONS GOVERNING THE ORGANIZATION OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT AND THE DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY, 1903-1963
Act of 14 February 1903, "An Act to Increase the Efficiency of the Army." Published in War Department General Order 15, 18 February 1903. Provided for a Chief of Staff and a General Staff Corps.
War Department General Order 120, 14 August 1903. Prescribed in detail the duties and functions of the General Staff.
War Department General Order 68, 26 May 1911. The Stimson-Wood Reorganization. Reorganization of the General Staff into a Mobile Army Division, Coast Artillery Division, Bureau of Militia Affairs, and Army War College Division.
Act of 3 June 1916, The National Defense Act of 1916. Published in War Department Bulletin No. 16, 22 June 1916. Basic law governing the organization and administration of the War Department and the Army until 1950. Restricted the General Staff to an advisory role and reduced its numbers drastically.
War Department General Order 14, 9 February 1918. Reorganization of the General Staff along functional lines, subordinating the supply bureaus to a Director of Purchases and Supplies and a Director of Storage and Traffic.
War Department General Order 80, 26 August 1918. The March Reorganization. Reorganization of the General Staff, providing for centralized direction and control over departmental operations under the Chief of Staff, abolishing the bureaus as independent agencies and assigning their functions to General Staff directorates.
National Defense Act Amendments, 4 June 1920. Published in War Department Bulletin No. 25, 9 June 1920. Abolished wartime organization. Restored bureaus' independence, increasing their number to seventeen. Assigned responsibility for
procurement and industrial mobilization to assistant secretary.
War Department General Order 41, 16 August 1921. The Pershing Reorganization. Reorganization of the General Staff, substituting assistant chiefs of staff for directors on the General Staff and introducing the "G" system of the AEF.
War Department Circular 59, 2 March 1942. Authorized by First War Powers Act of 18 December 1941. The Marshall Reorganization delegated authority over War Department operations and administration to OPD, AGF, AAF, and SOS (later ASF), under Executive Order 9082 of 28 February 1942.
War Department Circular 138, 14 May 1946. The Eisenhower Reorganization. Under Executive Order 9722, 13 May 1946. Revived War Department General Staff with directive authority and restored bureaus to prewar status.
National Security Act, 26 July 1947. Published in War Department Bulletin No. 11, 81 July 1947. Provided for unification of the armed services, including a separate Air Force, in a loose federation, the National Military Establishment, under a Secretary of Defense with little authority. Legally recognized the JCS and created Central Intelligence Agency and National Security Council.
Department of the Army Circular 2, 2 January 1948. Created Office of the Army Comptroller, a military officer who would report directly to the Secretary of the Army on some matters and a civilian deputy.
Department of the Army Circular 64, 10 March 1948. AGF abolished, replaced by a staff agency, the Office of the Chief of Army Field Forces, with no command functions. Continental armies to report directly to Chief of Staff.
Department of the Army Circular 342, 1 November 1948. Reorganization of the Army staff, creating two deputy chiefs, one for Plans and Operations and the other for Administration, and a Vice Chief of Staff.
National Security Act Amendments, 10 August 1949. Published in Department of the Army Bulletin No. 22, 22 August 1949. Gave Secretary of Defense more authority over services. Established comptrollers in the Department of Defense and the three services and directed adoption of program or functional budgets. The latter effectively eliminated the traditional individual budgets of the Army's bureaus or technical services.
Department of the Army Special Regulation 10 5-1, 11 April 1950. Established the three-deputy pattern for planning, programing, and reviewing departmental operations. Restored "G" system, replacing directors with assistant chiefs of staff.
Army Organization Act, 28 June 1950. Published in Department of the Army Bulletin No. 9, 6 July 1950. Replaced National Defense Act of 1916 as basic legislation governing organization and administration of the Department of the Army. Granted Secretary of the Army authority to organize the Army staff as he saw fit. Removed the statutory basis which the technical services had relied upon for their independence.
Presidential Reorganization Plan 6, 30 April 1958. Strengthened authority of Secretary of Defense by centralizing functions previously performed by interservice boards on supply and research and development. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs made Director of the Joint Staff. Service secretaries become executive agents of the Secretary of Defense in dealing with unified and specified commands.
Change 4 to Special Regulation 10-5-1, 8 September 1954. Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics (DCSLOG) replaces Assistant Chief of Staff, G-4, with command authority on paper over the technical services.
Change 7 to Special Regulation 10-50-25, 1 February 1955. Office of Chief of Army Field Forces redesignated as Headquarters, United States Continental Army Command (USCONARC), with command over six continental armies and Military District of Washington (MDW), reverting to pattern of AGF during World War II.
Change 11 to Special Regulation 10-5-1, 22 September 1955. Created Office, Chief of Research and Development (OCRD) at Deputy Chief of Staff level, removing this function from Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics.
Department of the Army General Order 64, 3 November 1955. Created Office of Assistant Secretary of the Army for Research and Development.
Change 13 to Special Regulation 10-5-1, 27 December 1955. Abolished three-deputy system, designating chiefs of General Staff divisions as deputy chiefs. Comptroller of the Army and Chief of Research and Development have status of deputy chiefs of staff. Assistant Chief of Staff for Intelligence
remains. Staff co-ordinating functions assigned to Secretary of the General Staff in the Chief of Staff's Office.
Department of Defense Directive 5160, 31 January 1956. Subject: Policies for Implementation of Single Manager Assignments.
Department of Defense Reorganization Act, 6 August 1958. Published in Department of the Army Bulletin No. 6, 25 August 1958. Authority of the chairman of the JCS and the JCS strengthened with JCS replacing service secretaries as executive agents of the President and Secretary of Defense in dealing with unified and specified commands. Also created Office of Director of Defense Research and Engineering at assistant secretary level. McCormack-Curtis amendment authorized Secretary of Defense to reorganize nonmilitary functions of the services as he saw fit in the absence of Congressional objection.
Department of Defense Directive 5105.22, 6 November 1961. Created Defense Supply Agency, effective 1 January 1962, taking over most of the functions of the Quartermaster General of the Army.
Department of Defense Reorganization Order, 10 January 1962, and Department of the Army General Order 8, 15 February 1962. McNamara Reorganization of the Department of the Army and the Army. Under Section 8 (a) of the Defense Reorganization Act of 1958 President Kennedy submitted this plan to Congress on 16 January 1962 which abolished the headquarters of the technical services, except the Surgeon General and the Chief of Engineers. Their functions were transferred to two new field commands, the Army Materiel Command (AMC) and the Combat Developments Command (CDC). Training functions were transferred to USCONARC and personnel functions to a new Office of Personnel Operations (OPO) under the Deputy Chief of Staff for Personnel. The reorganization became effective in the absence of Congressional objections on 17 February 1962.
Department of the Army General Order 6, 7 February 1968. Created Office of Assistant Chief of Staff for Force Development (OACSFOR) out of Deputy Chief of Staff for Military Operations Office. OACSFOR responsible for training and DCSOPS for planning and joint planning functions.