Comment by mpyne
9 hours ago
The Department of the Army is what was previously called the Department of War. The Department of Defense is new, dating to just after WWII.
9 hours ago
The Department of the Army is what was previously called the Department of War. The Department of Defense is new, dating to just after WWII.
Pedantry.
The Department of War was responsible for naval affairs until The Department of the Navy was spun off from it in 1798, and aerial forces until the creation of the The Department of the Air Force in 1947, whereafter it was left with just the army and renamed the Department of the Army. All three branches were then subordinated to the new Department of Defense in 1949, which became functionally equivalent to the original entity.
The Department of War is what it was called when it was first created in 1789 by the Congress (establishing the department and the position of Secretary of War), the predecessor entity being called the The Board of War and Ordnance during the revolution.
The Department of "Defense" has never fought on home soil. Ever.