DOD is an acronym – also commonly used with a lower-case “o”, as in DoD – that stands for Department of Defense.
The Department of Defense is America's oldest and largest government agency. The DOD—with more than 1.4 million men and women on active duty, and 718,000 civilian personnel—is the nation's largest employer. Another 1.1 million serve in the National Guard and Reserve forces. More than 2 million military retirees and their family members receive benefits. (Source: U.S. Dept. of Defense)
The mission of the Department of Defense is to provide the military forces needed to deter war and to protect the security of our country. The department's headquarters is at the Pentagon, one of the world's largest office buildings. Despite 17.5 miles of corridors it takes only seven minutes to walk between any two points in the building. (Source: U.S. Dept. of Defense)
