SECDEF
Military abbreviation · Military Term
| Stands for | Secretary of Defense |
|---|---|
| Categories | Military |
SECDEF stands for Secretary of Defense, a military term abbreviation.
Civilian head of the Department of Defense and principal defense adviser to the president, exercising authority over the military departments and the chain of command running from the president to the combatant commanders.
Example: The SECDEF approved the deployment of an additional fighter squadron to the region.
Usage notes
James Forrestal became the first secretary of defense in 1947. The position replaced the cabinet-level secretaries of war and the Navy as head of the unified defense establishment. Staff documents write SECDEF or SecDef; the deputy is the DEPSECDEF.
Related abbreviations
More military term abbreviations
- SALUTE – Size, activity, location, unit, time, equipment
- SAP – Special access program
- SCI – Sensitive compartmented information
- SCIF – Sensitive compartmented information facility
- SDO – Staff duty officer
- SEAD – Suppression of enemy air defenses
- SECNAV – Secretary of the Navy
- SERE – Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape
- SIGINT – Signals intelligence
- SIPRNet – Secret Internet Protocol Router Network
- SITREP – Situation report
- SJA – Staff Judge Advocate