Two years after unification, Congress gives the Defense Secretary real command

Two years after the National Security Act of 1947 loosely stitched the Army, Navy, and Air Force under a single secretary, the arrangement still wasn't working. The three service secretaries kept operating almost as equals, and the Secretary of Defense had more coordination duty than actual command. The 1949 amendments fixed that: the National Military Establishment was renamed the Department of Defense, the Army, Navy, and Air Force secretaries were placed directly under the Secretary of Defense in the chain of command, and a new Deputy Secretary of Defense position gave the office its first number two…