United States Under Secretary of the Army
The United States Under Secretary of the Army is the second-highest ranking civilian official of the United States Department of the Army, serving directly under the United States Secretary of the Army. The Secretary and Under Secretary, together with two military officers, the Chief of Staff of the United States Army and the Vice Chief of Staff of the United States Army, constitute the senior leaders of the United States Army.
The following officials report to the Under Secretary of the Army: the Assistant Secretary of the Army, the Assistant Secretary of the Army, the Assistant Secretary of the Army, the Assistant Secretary of the Army, the Assistant Secretary of the Army, and the General Counsel of the Army. There are also two Deputy Under Secretaries of the Army who assist the Under Secretary in his tasks.
The current Under Secretary of the Army is James E. McPherson. He started in an acting position on July 23, 2019 and was sworn into the position full-time on March 25, 2020 following confirmation by the Senate.
History
The office was created in 1947 as part of the general reorganization of the United States Armed Forces occasioned by the National Security Act of 1947. The office was initially styled "Under Secretary of War" and was created by Department of War General Order 67, dated July 25, 1947. Three weeks later, on August 16, 1947, Department of War Circular 225 redesignated the position as "Under Secretary of the Army".List of Under Secretaries of the Army
The following men have held the post:| No. | Name | Tenure start | Tenure end |
| 1 | William Henry Draper, Jr. | ||
| 2 | Gordon Gray | ||
| 3 | Tracy Voorhees | ||
| 4 | Archibald S. Alexander | ||
| 5 | Karl R. Bendesten | ||
| 6 | Earl D. Johnson | ||
| 7 | John Slezak | ||
| 8 | Charles C. Finucane | ||
| 9 | Hugh M. Milton II | ||
| 10 | Stephen Ailes | ||
| 11 | Paul Robert Ignatius | ||
| 12 | Stanley Rogers Resor | ||
| 13 | David E. McGiffert | ||
| 14 | Thaddeus Beal | ||
| 15 | Kenneth E. BeLieu | ||
| 16 | Herman R. Staudt | ||
| 17 | Norman Ralph Augustine | ||
| 18 | Walter B. LaBerge | ||
| 19 | Harry Spiro, Jr. | ||
| 20 | James R. Ambrose | ||
| 21 | Michael P. W. Stone | ||
| 22 | John W. Shannon | ||
| 23 | Joe R. Reeder | ||
| 24 | Robert M. Walker | ||
| 25 | Bernard D. Rostker | ||
| 26 | Gregory R. Dahlberg | ||
| 27 | Les Brownlee | ||
| 28 | Raymond F. DuBois | ||
| 29 | Pete Geren | ||
| 30 | Nelson M. Ford | ||
| 31 | Joseph W. Westphal | ||
| 32 | Brad Carson | ||
| – | Eric Fanning | ||
| – | Thomas E. Hawley | ||
| 33 | Patrick Murphy | ||
| – | Karl F. Schneider | ||
| 34 | Ryan McCarthy | ||
| 35 | James E. McPherson | ||
| 35 | James E. McPherson | Incumbent |