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Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness
Flag of an Under Secretary of Defense
Incumbent Ashish Vazirani Acting since 8 September 2023
Department of Defense
Abbreviation	USD (P&R)
Member of	Office of the Secretary of Defense
Reports to	Secretary of Defense
Appointer	The President with Senate advice and consent
Term length	At the pleasure of the President
Formation	16 March 1994 (1994-03-16)
First holder	Edwin Dorn
Salary	$165,300
Website	Official website

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.

The previous most recent under secretary was Gil Cisneros, who served from 24 August 2021 to 8 September 2023.

Overview

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. Through the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Military Personnel Policy, the United States Military Entrance Processing Command also reports to the Under Secretary.

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.

History

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. 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.

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).

Reporting officials

Officials reporting to the USD (P&R) include:

• Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness
• Military Deputy to the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness
  • Director, Office of Diversity Management and Equal Opportunity
    • Defense Equal Opportunity Management Institute
  • Director, Defense Suicide Prevention Office
  • Director, Personnel Risk Reduction Office
• Assistant Secretary of Defense for Readiness
• Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs
  • Military Health System
  • Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Wounded Warrior Care & Transition Policy
• Assistant Secretary of Defense for Manpower and Reserve Affairs
  • Director, Defense Commissary Agency
  • Director, Department of Defense Education Activity
  • Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Civilian Personnel Policy
  • Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Military Personnel Policy
  • Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Military Community and Family Policy
  • Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Readiness
  • Director, Office of Total Force Planning & Requirements
  • Director, Transition to Veterans Program Office
• Director, Defense Human Resources Activity
• Director, DoD/VA Collaboration Office

Budget

Budget totals

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.

Budget features

• Contracts and other Support Services - Funds contracts and other support services for mission requirements, including Intergovernmental Personnel Act requirements
• Advancing Diversity and Equal Opportunity Program - Funding to increase the number of people with targeted disabilities in the federal civilian workforce to support the DoD goal of two percent DoD-wide, emphasizing the benefit for wounded service members
• Assistant Secretary of Defense (Health Affairs) - ASD (HA) is the principal medical staff advisor to the Secretary of Defense and principal program manager for all DoD health matters to include medical readiness, health care delivery, preventive medicine, medical military construction, and the procurement, development, training and retention of medical military and civilian personnel
• Assistant Secretary of Defense (Reserve Affairs) - Funds managed by ASD (RA) are utilized to conduct valuable research and analysis for specific topics and issues that arise related to the National Guard and military Reserve components
• Combatant Commander's Exercise Engagement and Training Transformation (CE2T2) - The program was established as a result of direction from the Quadrennial Defense Review that re-aligned and consolidated joint training programs and applies resulting efficiencies against new mission areas and existing joint training shortfalls
• Defense Safety Oversight Council (DSOC) - Supports safety initiatives to reduce and prevent injuries to Defense Department personnel
• Defense Readiness Reporting System (DRRS) - Allows for quick analysis of force capability issues, effective program oversight, operator training, and data maintenance
• Lost Work Days System - Lost Work Days aims to increase operational readiness by providing data and analysis to eliminate preventable mishaps
• Military Personnel Policy (MPP) Naturalization Support - Funding to pay U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in the United States Department of Homeland Security to not charge fees to military members applying for naturalization to become US citizens
• Military Spouse Intern Program - Assists eligible spouses of active duty military in obtaining positions in federal agencies by paying the spouses' salary and benefits for the first year of employment
• Studies Program - The Department contracts for assistance in facilitating studies that improve the overall operation and efficiency of the OUSD(P&R) and the programs over which it exercises oversight
• Training Transformation - Provides oversight of the Department's Joint training effort
• Wounded Warrior Care and Transition Policy (WWCTP) - Funds WWCTP operations that provide OSD-level oversight of the development and implementation of comprehensive disability, non-medical care and case management, and transition programs, policies and standards Department-wide
• Travel - Funds employee travel to support USD(P&R) mission

Office holders

Under Secretaries of Defense (Personnel and Readiness)

No.	Portrait	Name	Tenure	Secretary(ies) of Defense Served Under	President(s) Served Under
1		Edwin Dorn	16 March 1994 – 7 July 1997	William Perry	Bill Clinton
				William Cohen
2		Rudy de Leon	5 August 1997 – 31 March 2000
-		Charles Cragin (acting)	31 March 2000 – 23 May 2000
3		Bernard D. Rostker	23 May 2000 – 19 January 2001
4		David S. C. Chu	1 June 2001 – 20 January 2009	Donald Rumsfeld	George W. Bush
				Robert Gates
-		Gail H. McGinn (acting)	21 January 2009 – 8 February 2010		Barack Obama
5		Clifford Stanley	9 February 2010 – 27 October 2011
				Leon Panetta
-		Jo Ann Rooney (acting)	27 October 2011 – 8 June 2012
6		Erin C. Conaton	8 June 2012 – 31 December 2012
7		Jessica Wright	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	Jim Mattis	Donald Trump
8		Robert Wilkie	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		Matthew Donovan	23 March 2020 – 20 January 2021
-		Virginia S. Penrod (acting)	20 January 2021 – 24 August 2021	Lloyd Austin	Joe Biden
10		Gil Cisneros	24 August 2021 – 8 September 2023
-		Ashish Vazirani (acting)	8 September 2023 – present

Principal Deputy

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.

References

1. "OSD P&R Leadership". prhome.defense.gov. Retrieved 17 October 2019. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
2. "US Code: Title 10,136. Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness". Retrieved 21 September 2007.
3. http://prhome.defense.gov/MPP/, accessed June 2010
4. "H.R.2401". Retrieved 21 September 2007.
5. ^ "Department of Defense Key Officials" (PDF). Historical Office, OSD. 2024. Retrieved 5 April 2024.
6. "S.1059". Retrieved 21 September 2007.
7. "Fiscal Year (FY) 2012 Budget Estimates, Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD)" (PDF). Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller), OSD. 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 October 2011. Retrieved 29 August 2011.
8. Fiscal Year (FY) 2012 Budget Estimates, Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD), p.664
9. Fiscal Year (FY) 2012 Budget Estimates, Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD), p.697-707
10. Fiscal Year (FY) 2012 Budget Estimates, Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD), p.714
11. "Biographies". U.S. Department of Defense.
12. "OSD P&R; Biographies: Hon. Erin C. Conaton". Archived from the original on 13 September 2012. Retrieved 12 August 2012.
13. ^ "Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness". prhome.defense.gov.
14. "Virginia Penrod". www.linkedin.com.

v t e Senior officials in the United States Department of Defense
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks Secretaries of the Military Departments Secretary of the Army: Christine Wormuth Secretary of the Navy: Carlos Del Toro Secretary of the Air Force: Frank Kendall III Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen Charles Q. Brown Jr., USAF Under Secretaries of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment: William A. LaPlante Research and Engineering: Heidi Shyu Policy: Amanda J. Dory (acting) Comptroller/Chief Financial Officer: Michael J. McCord Personnel and Readiness: Ashish Vazirani (acting) Intelligence: Milancy Harris (acting) Under Secretaries of the Military Departments Under Secretary of the Army: Gabe Camarillo Under Secretary of the Navy: Thomas Mancinelli (acting) Under Secretary of the Air Force: Melissa Dalton Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff ADM Christopher W. Grady, USN Chiefs of the Military Services Chief of Staff of the Army: GEN Randy A. George Commandant of the Marine Corps: Gen Eric M. Smith Chief of Naval Operations: ADM Lisa M. Franchetti Chief of Staff of the Air Force: Gen David W. Allvin Chief of Space Operations: Gen B. Chance Saltzman Chief of the National Guard Bureau Gen Steven S. Nordhaus, USAF Unified Combatant Command Commanders Africa: Gen Michael E. Langley, USMC Central: GEN Michael E. Kurilla, USA Cyber: Gen Timothy D. Haugh, USAF European: GEN Christopher G. Cavoli, USA Indo-Pacific: ADM Samuel J. Paparo Jr., USN Northern: Gen Gregory M. Guillot, USAF Southern: ADM Alvin Holsey, USN Space: Gen Stephen N. Whiting, USSF Special Operations: GEN Bryan P. Fenton, USA Strategic: Gen Anthony J. Cotton, USAF Transportation: Gen Randall Reed, USAF
- Acting

v t e United States Department of Defense
Headquarters: The Pentagon Lloyd Austin, Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks, Deputy Secretary of Defense
Office of the Secretary of Defense (including defense agencies and DoD field activities) Deputy Secretary of Defense Deputy's Advisory Working Group Office of Net Assessment Special Access Program Oversight Committee Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment Defense Contract Management Agency Defense Logistics Agency Defense Threat Reduction Agency Office of Economic Adjustment Defense Acquisition University Defense Acquisition Board Defense Microelectronics Activity Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency Defense Innovation Unit Defense Technical Information Center Department of Defense Test Resource Management Center Missile Defense Agency Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Defense Security Cooperation Agency Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency Defense Policy Board Advisory Committee Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller) Defense Contract Audit Agency Defense Finance and Accounting Service Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness Defense Commissary Agency Department of Defense Education Activity Defense Human Resources Activity Defense Activity for Non-Traditional Education Support Defense Equal Opportunity Management Institute Defense Travel Management Office Defense Civilian Personnel Advisory Service Defense Health Agency Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence Defense Intelligence Agency Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency Defense Information Systems Agency (White House Communications Agency) National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency National Reconnaissance Office National Security Agency/Central Security Service (Director/Chief) Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs Defense Media Activity (American Forces Press Service, American Forces Radio and Television Service, Stars and Stripes, The Pentagon Channel) General Counsel of the Department of Defense Defense Legal Services Agency (Office of Military Commissions) Chief Management Officer of the Department of Defense Pentagon Force Protection Agency Washington Headquarters Services (White House Military Office)
Military Departments Department of the Army Secretary of the Army The Secretariat: Under Secretary of the Army Assistant Secretary for Acquisition, Logistics, and Technology Assistant Secretary for Civil Works Assistant Secretary (Financial Management and Comptroller) Assistant Secretary of the Army for Installations, Energy and Environment Assistant Secretary of the Army for Manpower and Reserve Affairs General Counsel of the Army The Administrative Assistant The Army Staff: Chief of Staff of the Army Vice Chief of Staff of the Army Sergeant Major of the Army Deputy Chief of Staff G-8 Chief of Chaplains Judge Advocate General Provost Marshal General Surgeon General U.S. Army field organizations: see Structure of the United States Army Department of the Navy Secretary of the Navy The Secretariat: Under Secretary of the Navy Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Financial Management and Comptroller) Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Installations and Environment) Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Manpower and Reserve Affairs) Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Research, Development and Acquisitions) General Counsel of the Navy Judge Advocate General Naval Criminal Investigative Service Naval Inspector General Headquarters Marine Corps: Commandant of the Marine Corps Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps Chaplain U.S. Marine Corps field organizations: see Organization of the United States Marine Corps Office of the Chief of Naval Operations: Chief of Naval Operations Vice Chief of Naval Operations Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy Director of Naval Reactors Chief of Chaplains Chief of Naval Personnel Surgeon General United States Navy field organizations: see Structure of the United States Navy Department of the Air Force Secretary of the Air Force The Secretariat: Under Secretary of the Air Force Assistant Secretary of the Air Force (Acquisition) Assistant Secretary of the Air Force (Financial Management & Comptroller) Assistant Secretary of the Air Force (Installations, Environment & Logistics) Assistant Secretary of the Air Force (Manpower & Reserve Affairs) General Counsel of the Department of the Air Force Air Force Office of Special Investigations The Air Staff: Chief of Staff of the Air Force Vice Chief of Staff of the Air Force Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force Chief of Chaplains Chief of Safety Chief Scientist Judge Advocate General Surgeon General U.S. Air Force field organizations: Major Commands Direct Reporting Units Field Operating Agencies Space Staff: Chief of Space Operations United States Space Force field organizations
Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Senior Enlisted Advisor to the Chairman Joint Requirements Oversight Council Director of the Joint Staff Joint Staff National Military Command Center Alternate National Military Command Center National Defense University Joint Personnel Recovery Agency
Combatant Commands Africa Command Central Command European Command Northern Command Indo-Pacific Command Southern Command Space Command Cyber Command Special Operations Command Strategic Command Transportation Command
National Guard Bureau Chief of the National Guard Bureau Air National Guard Army National Guard
Office of the Inspector General Defense Criminal Investigative Service

• United States Under Secretaries of Defense