Best Defense

Thomas E. Ricks' daily take on national security.

The worst jobs in Washington?

I see where Ray Mabus is now confirmed as secretary of the Navy. I suspect that makes him the highest-ranking southerner in the new administration. But I do wonder what it is the service secretaries do, sitting there temporarily atop the Navy, the Army, and the Air Force. (The Marines are part of the Navy ...

I see where Ray Mabus is now confirmed as secretary of the Navy. I suspect that makes him the highest-ranking southerner in the new administration.

I see where Ray Mabus is now confirmed as secretary of the Navy. I suspect that makes him the highest-ranking southerner in the new administration.

But I do wonder what it is the service secretaries do, sitting there temporarily atop the Navy, the Army, and the Air Force. (The Marines are part of the Navy Department.) I remember about 12 years ago asking one Navy secretary what he did and he said that he basically thought of himself as a lobbyist. Albeit a low-paid one. 

I think we should merge the civilian secretariats with the uniformed service staffs. Is there any reason not to? I am a big fan of civilian control but I don’t think the secretariats do much to maintain it-that tends to be left up to the embattled inhabitants of the Office of the Secretary of Defense.

Thomas E. Ricks covered the U.S. military from 1991 to 2008 for the Wall Street Journal and then the Washington Post. He can be reached at ricksblogcomment@gmail.com. Twitter: @tomricks1

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