United States Department of Defense United States Department of Defense The Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD, or DOD) is an executive branch department of the federal government charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government concerned directly with national security and the United States Armed Forces. The department is the largest employer in the world, with nearly 1.3 million active duty servicemen and women as of 2016. Adding to its employees are over 826,000 National Guardsmen and Reservists from the four services, and over 742,000 civilians bringing the total to over 2.8 million employees. Headquartered at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia,
Construction of the Virginia approaches to Arlington Memorial Bridge Myer, Colonel Jonathan M. Wainwright, said on July 30, 1936, that he would not opposed such legislation. This legislation was introduced in the 75th United States Congress in January 1937. In November 1935, work began on a bridge from Columbia Island to the Virginia mainland. This bridge was financed with $25,000 from Arlington County, $25,000 from the state of Virginia, and $350,000 from the Public Works Administration. The bridge was the second connection to the Virginia mainland (after the Boundary Channel Bridge leading to Memorial Drive). But it was designed only to carry the George Washington Memorial Parkway (formerly the