United States Senate Committee on Armed Services Information & United States Senate Committee on Armed Services Links at HealthHaven.com

Committee Chairman Carl Levin (D-MI) and former Chairman John Warner (R-VA) listen to Admiral Mike Mullen's confirmation hearing before the Armed Services Committee to become Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The Armed Services Committee is the prime scene of discussion regarding U.S. Military in the Senate.

The Committee on Armed Services is a committee of the United States Senate empowered with legislative oversight of the nation's military, including the Department of Defense, military research and development, nuclear energy (as pertaining to national security), benefits for members of the military, the Selective Service System and other matters related to defense policy. The Armed Services Committee was created as a result of the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 following U.S. victory in the Second World War. It merged the responsibilities of the Committee on Naval Affairs (established in 1816) and the Committee on Military Affairs (also established in 1816). Considered one of the most powerful Senate committees, its broad mandate allowed it to report some of the most extensive and revolutionary legislation during the Cold War years, including the National Security Act of 1947.The committee is highly influential.

[edit] Members, 111th Congress

The Committee is chaired by Democrat Carl Levin of Michigan, and the Ranking Minority Member is Republican John McCain of Arizona.

Majority	Minority
Carl Levin, Michigan, Chairman Robert Byrd, West Virginia Joseph Lieberman, Connecticut^[1] Jack Reed, Rhode Island Daniel Akaka, Hawaii Bill Nelson, Florida Ben Nelson, Nebraska Evan Bayh, Indiana Jim Webb, Virginia Claire McCaskill, Missouri Mark Udall, Colorado Kay Hagan, North Carolina Mark Begich, Alaska Roland Burris, Illinois Paul G. Kirk, Massachusetts	John McCain, Arizona, Ranking Member James Inhofe, Oklahoma Jeff Sessions, Alabama Saxby Chambliss, Georgia Lindsey Graham, South Carolina John Thune, South Dakota Roger Wicker, Mississippi George LeMieux, Florida Richard Burr, North Carolina David Vitter, Louisiana Susan Collins, Maine

Source: 2009 Congressional Record, Vol. 155, Page S9690 and S9910.

[edit] Subcommittees

Subcommittee Name	Chair	Ranking Minority Member
Airland	Joe Lieberman (I-CT)	John Thune (R-SD)
Emerging Threats and Capabilities	Bill Nelson (D-FL)	George LeMieux (R-FL)
Personnel	Jim Webb (D-VA)	Lindsey Graham (R-SC)
Readiness and Management Support	Evan Bayh (D-IN)	Richard Burr (R-NC)
SeaPower	Jack Reed (D-RI)	Roger Wicker (R-MS)
Strategic Forces	Ben Nelson (D-NE)	David Vitter (R-LA)

[edit] Chairmen

Committee on Military Affairs, 1816-1947	Committee on Naval Affairs, 1816-1947
John Williams (DR-TN) 1816-1817 George M. Troup (DR-GA) 1817-1818 John Williams (DR-TN) 1818-1823 Andrew Jackson (DR-TN) 1823-1825 William Henry Harrison (NR-OH) 1825-1828 Thomas Hart Benton (D-MO) 1828-1841 William Preston (W-SC) 1841-1842 John J. Crittenden (W-KY) 1842-1845 Thomas Hart Benton (D-MO) 1845-1849 Jefferson Davis (D-MS) 1849-1851 James Shields (D-IL) 1851-1855 John Weller (D-CA) 1855-1857 Jefferson Davis (D-MS) 1857-1861 Henry Wilson (R-MA) 1861-1872 John A. Logan (R-IL) 1872-1877 George E. Spencer (R-AL) 1877-1879 Theodore Randolph (D-NJ) 1879-1881 John A. Logan (R-IL) 1881-1886 Joseph R. Hawley (R-CT) 1887-1893 Edward Walthall (D-MS) 1893-1895 Joseph R. Hawley (R-CT) 1895-1905 Francis E. Warren (R-WY) 1905-1911 Henry A. du Pont (R-DE) 1911-1913 Joseph F. Johnston (D-AL) 1913 George E. Chamberlain (D-OR) 1913-1919 James W. Wadsworth, Jr. (R-NY) 1919-1927 David A. Reed (R-PA) 1927-1933 Morris Sheppard (D-TX) 1933-1941 Robert R. Reynolds (D-NC) 1941-1945 Elbert Thomas (D-UT) 1945-1947	Charles Tait (R-GA) 1816-1818 Nathan Sanford (R-NY) 1818-1819 James Pleasants (R-VA) 1819-1823 James Lloyd (F-MA) 1823-1825 Robert Y. Hayne (D-SC) 1825-1832 George M. Dallas (D-PA) 1832-1833 Samuel Southard (W-NJ) 1833-1836 William C. Rives (D-VA) 1836-1839 Reuel Williams (D-ME) 1839-1841 Willie P. Mangum (W-NC) 1841-1842 Richard H. Bayard (W-DE) 1842-1845 John Fairfield (D-ME) 1845-1847 David Levy Yulee (D-FL) 1847-1851 William M. Gwin (D-CA) 1851-1855 Stephen Mallory (D-FL) 1855-1861 John P. Hale (R-NH) 1861-1864 James Grimes (R-IA) 1864-1870 Aaron Cragin (R-NH) 1870-1877 Aaron A. Sargent (R-CA) 1877-1879 John R. McPherson (D-NJ) 1879-1881 James Donald Cameron (R-PA) 1881-1893 John R. McPherson (D-NJ) 1893-1895 James Donald Cameron (R-PA) 1895-1897 Eugene Hale (R-ME) 1897-1909 George C. Perkins (R-CA) 1909-1913 Benjamin Tillman (D-SC) 1913-1918 Claude A. Swanson (D-VA) 1918-1919 Carroll S. Page (R-VT) 1919-1923 Frederick Hale (R-ME) 1923-1933 Park Trammell (D-FL) 1933-1937 David I. Walsh (D-MA) 1937-1947

[edit] Committee on Armed Services, 1947-present

Chan Gurney (R-SD) 1947-1949
Millard E. Tydings (D-MD) 1949-1951
Richard B. Russell, Jr. (D-GA) 1951-1953
Leverett Saltonstall (R-MA) 1953-1955
Richard B. Russell, Jr. (D-GA) 1955-1969
John C. Stennis (D-MS) 1969-1981
John Tower (R-TX) 1981-1985
Barry Goldwater (R-AZ) 1985-1987
Sam Nunn (D-GA) 1987-1995
Strom Thurmond (R-SC) 1995-1999
John Warner (R-VA) 1999-2001
Carl Levin (D-MI) 2001
John Warner (R-VA) 2001
Carl Levin (D-MI) 2001-2003
John Warner (R-VA) 2003-2007
Carl Levin (D-MI) 2007-present

[edit] See also

United States House Committee on Armed Services

[edit] Footnotes

^ Joe Lieberman is an Independent Democrat, but caucuses with Democrats on the committee.

[edit] External links

United States Senate Armed Services Committee Website
Department of Defense
Armed Forces Retirement Home
Selected Service System
Four Torture Memos Released April 16, 2009, in response to FOIA suit by ACLU Senate Armed Services Committee Report on Torture released April 22, 2009.

[0] Joe Lieberman is an Independent Democrat, but caucuses with Democrats on the committee.

[1]

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