Comment by jwithington

Negative, the Department of War was the predecessor to the Dept of the Army. There used to be a Secretary of the Navy and a Secretary of War, both of whom rolled up direct to the president.

Following post-WWII reorgs, the DoD was created and the Secretary of War became the Secretary of the Army, reporting to the Secretary of Defense.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Department_of_th...