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,
Ballston, Arlington, Virginia Ballston, Arlington, Virginia Ballston is a neighborhood in Arlington County, Virginia and is home to the Ballston-MU station on the Orange Line and the Silver Line of the metro system. Ballston is named after the Ball family, one of whose family cemeteries lies in the neighborhood at N. Stafford Street and Fairfax Drive (Virginia State Route 237). Ballston began as Birch's Crossroads and later became Ball's Crossroads at what is now the intersection of N. Glebe Road (Virginia State Route 120) and Wilson Boulevard. A historical marker that stands near the southeastern corner of the intersection reads: This intersection has