When Army Gen. Henry Knox became the nation’s first secretary of war in 1789, the primary mission of the War Department was simple: Defend the United States of America.
That is still the priority mission for Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III today, but the complexity has obviously increased, and the threats have multiplied.
Competitors are trying to take advantage of gaps in protection to put the United States and other Western Hemisphere nations in danger, U.S. officials responsible for defense of the homeland told the House Armed Services Committee.