The insignia for aides to the Under Secretary of the Army was approved in 1962. Although the office of Under Secretary of the Army was established in 1947, its precursor, the Under Secretary of War, was created almost seven years earlier on December 16, 1940. As part of the massive overhaul of the U.S. military and defense bureaucracy entailed by the National Security Act of 1947, in July of that year the Secretary of War assumed all the functions and authority of the office of the Under Secretary, which was then redesignated the Under Secretary of the Army in August, 1947. The redesignation was made effective via a Department of the Army Circular issued September 18, 1947.
The second-highest ranking civilian serving in the Department of the Army, the Under Secretary serves directly to the Secretary of the Army. The General Counsel of the Army reports to the Under Secretary, as well several Assistant Secretaries of the Army in departments such as Manpower and Reserve Affairs, Financial Management and Comptroller, an Civil Works, to name a few. Assisting the Under Secretary are two Deputy Under Secretaries.
Should the office of the Secretary of the Army become vacant, the Under Secretary serves in that office in an acting role until a replacement is nominated and confirmed.