Department of War/Department of Defense Trivia

If you've ever watched Band of Brothers, you'll hear the term "War Department" mentioned several times.

You might think this is referring to what was later named the Department of Defense, but you'd be wrong. The War Department did not become the Defense Department.  

Prior to 1947, the Secretaries of the Army and the Navy were cabinet-level positions that oversaw the Department of War and the Department of the Navy, respectively. The U.S. Army was the first military department created for war, so it made sense to name it the Department of War (called the War Office in the early years). This is similar to West Point which was formally established as the United States Military Academy (USMA) in 1802 and later followed by the United States Naval Academy (USNA) in 1845.

The National Security Act of 1947 restructured the military. First, the Department of War was renamed to the Department of the Army. Then, the newly established Department of the Air Force along with the Departments of the Army and Navy were merged into the National Military Establishment (NME), headed by the Secretary of Defense.

The National Military Establishment is an awkward name. So, two years later, in 1949, it was renamed to the Department of Defense. 

Of course, today, there's a dust-up over what to call it. Perhaps Congress should simply rename it the Department of the Military since the military certainly wages war and it engages in peacekeeping missions.

Ultimately, I think of the U.S. military as a logistics organization that occasionally dabbles in combat. 

Amateurs think tactics. Professionals think logistics.