J. Daniel Howard Carlucci and his deputy, General Colin Powell. Howard focussed on arms control issues and remained through the signing of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty in January 1988. He also dealt with many issues associated with the Iran–Contra affair. On December 21, 1987, President Reagan nominated Howard to serve as Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs) and Howard would hold this post from February 1988 through May 1989. He worked for Secretary of Defense Frank Carlucci and dealt with the aftermath of the shooting down of Iran Air Flight 655 by the U.S.S. "Vincennes" and the explosion of a gun mount
Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs Affairs)". ASD(PA) was established by Defense Directive 5105.13 of 10 August 1957. In 1993, the position was changed to "Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs," by Defense Directive 5122.5. This bureaucratic distinction was dropped after the National Defense Authorization Act for FY1995 (P.L. 103-337) increased the number of assistant secretaries from 10 to 11. The post was subsequently titled "Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs)", referred to as the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs, and abbreviated as ASD(PA). In October 2015 the position was retitled again, reverting to "Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for