Which statement describes the administrative chain of command?

• A. Runs from the President, through SecDef to the Secretaries of the Military Departments.
• B. Runs from the President to the Secretary of State.
• C. Runs from the Joint Chiefs to the Combatant Commanders.
• D. Runs from the President to the National Security Council.

Answer: (A)

The administrative chain of command in the U.S. military flows from the President to the Secretary of Defense, who then oversees the Secretaries of the Military Departments. The President is the Commander in Chief, but the day-to-day authority over defense policy, budgeting, and service-wide administration is exercised through the Secretary of Defense and the service secretaries who head the Army, Navy, Air Force (and Space Force), etc. The Secretaries of the Military Departments carry out policy and manage their services under SecDef, making this the formal chain of authority for administrative matters.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff serve as the top military advisory body, providing expertise and recommendations, but they do not constitute the administrative chain of command. Operational command to forces follows a separate path that ultimately reaches Combatant Commanders, and that flow is coordinated through the President and SecDef, not directly through the Joint Chiefs or the NSC. The National Security Council and the Secretary of State are not part of the DoD’s administrative hierarchy; the NSC is an advisory body to the President, and the Secretary of State handles foreign policy.

So the statement that describes the administrative chain of command is the one that runs from the President, through the Secretary of Defense, to the Secretaries of the Military Departments.