The last major revision of the statutory framework concerning the position was done in the Goldwater – Nichols Department of Defense Reorganization Act of 1986.

Designated a combat support agency under the Goldwater-Nicholas Defense Reorganization Act, DIA moved to increase cooperation with the Unified & Specified Commands and to begin developing a body of joint intelligence doctrine.

U. S. Congressional investigations of many of the reported problems resulted in the most important legislative change affecting the U. S. military organization, doctrine, career progression, and operating procedures since the end of World War II – the Goldwater-Nichols Department of Defense Reorganization Act of 1986 ( Pub.

This influential document led to the Goldwater-Nichols Defense Reorganization Act of 1986.

* October 1, 1986: Goldwater-Nichols Act of 1986 ( Defense Reorganization ),

In some measure the Soviet sputniks may have hastened the landmark Defense Reorganization Act of 1958.

The Defense Reorganization Act of 1958 significantly influenced the evolution of DoD organization and the role of the secretary.

The Goldwater-Nichols Department of Defense Reorganization Act of 1986, ( signed by President Ronald Reagan ), made the most sweeping changes to the United States Department of Defense since the department was established in the National Security Act of 1947 by reworking the command structure of the United States military.

Jones continued his efforts toward that goal after his retirement as chairman of the JCS and saw it come to fruition with the passage of the Goldwater-Nichols Department of Defense Reorganization Act in 1986.

He was the first Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to serve under the provisions of the Goldwater-Nichols Department of Defense Reorganization Act of 1986 where he as Chairman became ( not the collegial body of the Joint Chiefs of Staff ), by statute, the principal military adviser to the President, the National Security Council, and the Secretary of Defense.

The need for joint interoperability led to the Defense Reorganization Act of 1986, under which the Joint Chiefs of Staff ( JCS ) tasked NSA, the Defense Information Systems Agency ( DISA ), and the Joint Tactical Command, Control and Communications Agency ( JTC3A ) to develop a Key Management Goal Architecture ( KMGA ).

In accordance with the Department of Defense Reorganization Act of 1958, which stipulated the responsibilities, functions, and authority of the Director of Defense Research and Engineering ( DDR & E ), the Board ’ s charter was revised on November 23, 1959.

Consequently, President Ronald Reagan on 18 April 1987 ordered the Secretary of Defense to establish a Unified Transportation Command ( UTC ), a directive made possible in part by the Goldwater-Nichols Department of Defense Reorganization Act of 1986, which revoked the law prohibiting consolidation of military transportation functions.

* 1958: Department of Defense Reorganization Act,

The Eisenhower Reorganization Plan Number 6 ( 1953 ) abolished both this agency and the Munitions Board, replacing them with a single executive, an Assistant Secretary of Defense for Supply and Logistics.

The Goldwater-Nichols Defense Reorganization Act of 1986 clarified and codified responsibilities that commanders-in-chief ( CINCs ) and their predecessors ( theater or area commanders ) had undertaken since World War II, and which were first given legal status in 1947.

* The 1986 Defense Reorganization — the Goldwater-Nichols Act — that fundamentally restructured military command and control — so that troops serving in high-threat combat and peacekeeping missions — would have a responsive and dynamic military chain of command.

Research and development activities undertaken by the Secretary shall be coordinated or conducted jointly with the Department of Defense to the end that developments under this Act which are primarily of a civil nature will contribute to the defense of the Nation and that developments which are primarily of a military nature will, to the greatest practicable extent compatible with military and security requirements, be available to advance the purposes of this Act and to strengthen the civil economy of the Nation.

Similar restrictions on the strength of the Army National Guard contained in the 1960 Department of Defense Appropriation Act should likewise be dropped.

The latest major change in this program was introduced by the National Defense Education Act of 1958, Title 8, of which amended the George-Barden Act.

For the Smith-Hughes, George-Barden, and National Defense Act of 1958, the cumulative total of Federal expenditures in 42 years was only about $740 million.

The Title 8, program of the National Defense Education Act of 1958 was a great spur to this trend toward area schools.

What could rescue the bill would be some quick progress on a bill amending the National Defense Education Act of 1958.

* 1949 – U. S. President Harry S. Truman signs the National Security Act Amendment, streamlining the defense agencies of the United States government, and replacing the Department of War with the United States Department of Defense.

On September 21, 1996, barely three years after the " Don't Ask, Don't Tell " imbroglio, and further straining relations with the LGBT community, Clinton signed into law the Defense of Marriage Act ( DOMA ), which defines marriage as the legal union of one man and one woman.

In a July 2, 2011 editorial the New York Times opined, " The Defense of Marriage Act was enacted in 1996 as an election-year wedge issue, signed by President Bill Clinton in one of his worst policy moments.

Congress included text in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1994 ( passed in 1993 ) requiring the military to abide by regulations essentially identical to the 1982 absolute ban policy.

The National Defense Authorization Act for 2012 would have authorized indefinite detention of suspected terrorists, but enforcement of the relevant section was blocked by a federal court on May 16, 2012, ruling on a suit brought by a number of private citizens, including Chris Hedges, Daniel Ellsberg, Noam Chomsky, and Birgitta Jonsdottir.

* Defense Base Act ( DBA ) insurance provides coverage for civilian workers hired by the government to perform contracts outside the US and Canada.

After the perpetrator of President Reagan's assassination attempt was found not guilty by reason of insanity, Congress passed the Insanity Defense Reform Act of 1984.

* 1916 – The National Defense Act is signed into law, increasing the size of the United States National Guard by 450, 000 men.

* 1947 – Cold War: U. S. President Harry S. Truman signs the National Security Act of 1947 into United States law creating the Central Intelligence Agency, United States Department of Defense, United States Air Force, Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the United States National Security Council.

The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1998 ( Public Law 105-85 ) changed the criteria to delete authorization for award of the Purple Heart to any civilian national of the United States while serving under competent authority in any capacity with the Armed Forces.

In 1958 the National Defense Education Act was passed with the encouragement of many legislators who feared the United States education system was falling behind that of the Soviet Union.

This came about when President Eisenhower enacted a bill called the National Defense Education Act.

The Defense Authorization Act of 2009, signed by President Bush, contained a provision that gave veterans and active-duty service members not in uniform the right to salute during the playing of the national anthem.

Teaching of evolution was effectively barred from United States public school curricula by the outcome of the 1925 Scopes Trial, but in the 1960s the National Defense Education Act led to Biological Sciences Curriculum Study reintroducing teaching of evolution.

* October 1 – U. S. President Ronald Reagan signs the Goldwater – Nichols Act into law, making official the largest reorganization of the United States Department of Defense since the Air Force was made a separate branch of service in 1947.

* November 25 – U. S. President George W. Bush signs the Homeland Security Act into law, establishing the Department of Homeland Security, in the largest U. S. government reorganization since the creation of the Department of Defense in 1947.

Gray worked with the Environmental Defense Fund ( EDF ), who worked with the EPA to write the bill that became law as part of the Clean Air Act of 1990.

DARPA was created as the Advanced Research Projects Agency ( ARPA ) by the Supplemental Military Construction Authorization ( Air Force ) ( Public Law 85-325 ) and Department of Defense Directive 5105. 15, in February 1958.

* 1958 – A formal North American Aerospace Defense Command agreement is signed between the United States and Canada.

* Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency ( DARPA, created in 1958 )

The National Defense Education Act ( NDEA ), signed into law on September 2, 1958, provided funding to United States education institutions at all levels.

More Than Science and Sputnik: The National Defense Education Act of 1958 ( University of Alabama Press ; 2010 ) 247 pages

The United States ' National Defense Education Act of 1958 increased funding for these goals from childhood education through the post-graduate level.

On 12 February 1958, the Department, of Defense transferred executive responsibility for the Jupiter IRBM from the Department of the Army to the Air Force.

In 1958 the site was operating with an AN / FPS-20 search radar and a pair of AN / FPS-6 height-finder sets to support the 4751st Air Defense Missile Squadron.

Defense contractor Raytheon became a major employer after opening a large research facility in Sudbury in 1958.

On 8 November 1958 the Sault Sainte Marie Air Defense Sector ( SsmADS ) was established at K. I. Sawyer AFB.

The 4136th Strategic Wing was formed 1 September 1958, consisting of the 906th Air Refueling Squadron, followed by the 4136th Combat Defense Squadron that was activated on 1 June 1959.

Operation Argus was a series of nuclear weapons tests and missile tests secretly conducted during August and September 1958 over the South Atlantic Ocean by the United States's Defense Nuclear Agency, in conjunction with the Explorer 4 space mission.

* ( team led by Herman Kahn ) Report on a study of Non-Military Defense, RAND Corporation report R-322-RC, 1958

" In May 1958, the Department of Defense directed the transfer of the WS-117L program to Advanced Research Projects Agency.

* By February 1958, the political and defense communities had recognized the need for a high-level Department of Defense organization to execute R & D projects and created the Advanced Research Projects Agency, which later became the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency or DARPA.

In February 1958 Peng Dehuai, then China's Defense Minister, gave a speech for the fortieth anniversary of the Soviet Red Army in which he suggested increasing the military cooperation between China and the Soviet Union.

Mahendra of Nepal ( left ) visiting Israel accompanied by Director General of Ministry of Defense Shimon Peres ( middle ) and Air Force commander Maj. Gen. Ezer Weizman ( right ), 1958

* Air Defense of the Panama Canal 1958 – 1970