The United States Secretary of the Army has statutory responsibility for all matters relating to the United States Army: manpower, personnel, reserve affairs, installations, environmental issues, weapons systems and equipment acquisition, communications, and financial management. It is a non-Cabinet position under the United States Secretary of Defense. This position was created September 18, 1947 when the Department of War became the Department of the Army and made a branch of the new Department of Defense.
Kenneth Claiborne Royall, the last United States Secretary of War, became the first Secretary of the Army when the National Defense Act of 1947 took effect and was the last Army secretary to hold the cabinet status, which was henceforth assigned to the Secretary of Defense.
