§7014 Office of the Secretary of the Army

Summary

Creates an Office of the Secretary of the Army to help the Secretary run the Army. The Office includes the Under Secretary, Assistant Secretaries, Administrative Assistant, General Counsel, Inspector General, Chief of Legislative Liaison, the Army Reserve Forces Policy Committee, and other offices the Secretary sets up. The Office must be the single place inside the Office and the Army Staff that runs seven key functions: acquisition; auditing; comptroller (financial management); information management; the Inspector General function; legislative affairs; and public affairs. The Secretary must pick one office inside the Office to handle each function. The Army Staff cannot set up separate offices to run those functions, though other Army parts may give advice or help if directed by the office in charge. The head of auditing must have at least five years of accounting or auditing experience and be a career reserved position as defined in section 3132(a)(8) of title 5. The Office also has sole responsibility for research and development, but the Secretary may give the Army Staff parts of R&D that deal with military requirements and test and evaluation. The Secretary must make sure the Office and the Army Staff do not duplicate functions assigned to the other. Limits on staff assigned to the Office and the Army Staff are: no more than 3,250 total members and civilians; no more than 1,900 Army officers on active duty; and no more than 67 general officers. These limits do not apply in time of war, and limits in total and active officers may be increased by 15 percent in a national emergency.