11 Secrets Of The Defense Department

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11 Secrets Of The Defense Department

We're no spies, but we retrieved as much info as we could.

Published 5 months ago in Funny

To get the boring part out of the way… The Department of Defense (DOD) is a cabinet-level executive branch of the government tasked with maintaining and overseeing all military forces of the United States. Yes, this even includes the Space Force.

The DOD is known worldwide for its military operations, but like anything, it does have some lesser-known, sometimes shameful aspects. Here’s a handful of Pentagon-stored facts that you might not know.

1
It's Almost As Old As The U.S. Itself
The Department of Defense was originally established as "The War Department" in 1789.

2
Land Management
The DoD owns over 30 million acres of land, and manages it for military purposes like training, testing, and operational facilities.

3
Its Global Presence
All 7 continents host DoD activities, which includes 4,800 sites in more than 150 countries.

4
The Pentagon Is Way Bigger Than You Think
Its 17.5 miles of hallways and over 6.6 million square feet of floor space makes it one of the largest office buildings in the world.

5
Why The Pentagon Is A Pentagon
The land the Pentagon was first planned to go on was bordered on five sides by roads, so the architects designed a five-sided building. FDR chose to move it to its present location, but he kept the five-sided design.

6
Controversial Detention and Interrogation Practices
In December 2004, the ACLU released internal FBI memos that documented torture and abuse at Guantanamo Bay and other US prisons, including sleep deprivation, hooding prisoners, forced stress positions, and the use of dogs.

7
Desegregation
It was designed with racially separated facilities, but became the first desegregated building in Virginia.

8
It is the largest employer on the planet.
With over 3 million employees including active-duty personnel, reservists, and civilians.

9
“Signalgate”
In March 2025, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth started a Signal group chat with senior officials J.D. Vance, Marco Rubio, Tulsi Gabbard, and Mike Waltz. They discussed the March 15 airstrike in Yemen but mistakenly added editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, Jeffrey Goldberg. These messages included operational details like missile types and launch times, raising serious national security concerns.

10
Overspending and Contractor Fraud
The Pentagon has been accused of overpaying for goods and services, sometimes by significant margins, with examples including $150,000 soap dispensers and $7,600 coffee makers. The Commission on Wartime Contracting estimated billions lost to fraud and waste in Iraq and Afghanistan alone.

11
A Renovation Possibly Saved Thousands of Lives
A huge renovation project was going wedge by wedge when terrorists flew Flight 77 into the Pentagon, Sept. 11, 2001 — killing 189 people. The plane hit Wedge 3, where renovations had just completed, so only 800 out of the 4,500 people were back in that section.