To be pedantic, the Department of War is the old name for the Department of the Army. The Department of the Navy was its co-equal. When the US Army Air Forces became the the US Air Force, War became Army and the Department of Defence was established over all three.
IndispensableDestiny, Your comment made me go do a little dig and some research.
I found this: https://www.history.com/articles/department-of-war-defense-name-changes
Thank you for pointing me towards this. I hadn’t ever heard of the National Military Establishment (NME).
I’m painfully experienced with the Joint Staff and all the laws and regulations associated with that.
Thanks for furthering my knowledge.
[I totally support renaming Department of Defense as Department of War. It suits my sensibilities.]