Ailes served as Under Secretary of the Army, February 9, 1961, until January 28, 1964, and he was then promoted to Secretary of the Army until July 1, 1965. He is often credited as the driving force for the creation of the United States Army Drill Sergeant program. He conducted a far-reaching survey over time that included a wide variety of experienced personnel across all the services and the results contained five principal findings, with appropriate recommendations and suggestions for eliminating the problems encountered. The Training and Doctrine Command's annual Drill Sergeant of the Year award is named after Ailes.