This position can trace its lineage partially back to the National Security Act of 1947, which established a Munitions Board to oversee logistics and supply within the nascent Defense Department. Through the Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon and Ford administrations, oversight of logistics and materiel readiness was merged with oversight of installations and properties. In 1977, the acquisition functions of this office were transferred to the Director of Defense Research and Engineering, and responsibilities for logistics were merged with manpower and reserve affairs throughout the Carter and early Reagan administrations. For a year in the middle of the Reagan administration, responsibilities for logistics and materiel support were split between two ASDs after the creation of a new Assistant Secretary of Defense for Development and Support, established by Defense Directive 5129.4. However, this office was abolished after Defense Directive 5128.1 merged logistics responsibilities into a single office, the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Logistics. This office was then replaced by the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Production and Logistics in April 1987, and phased out completely in 1993 after the reorganization of the office of the USD. From 1993 until 2000, there was no principal staff assistant to the USD responsible for oversight of logistics and materiel readiness. The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2000, created the new position of Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Logistics and Materiel Readiness, or DUSD. The DUSD was meant to serve as a second DUSD, after the Principal DUSD, reporting to the USD. According to an official DoD history, the intent of Congress in establishing the DUSD was to emphasize the importance of these functions. The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010 redesignated this position as the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Logistics and Materiel Readiness, or ASD, as part of an overall effort to limit the number of DUSD positions to five. However, this post has remained vacant throughout the Obama administration, with Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Alan F. Estevez serving as the highest-ranking official in this office. In February 2018, the Logistics and Materiel Readiness office was combined into a new office, headed by the Assistant Secretary for Sustainment.
Office holders
Assistant Secretaries for Logistics and Materiel Readiness
The table below includes both the various titles of this post over time, as well as all the holders of those offices.
