Department of Defense Education Activity

Preserving DoDEA's History

Throughout its 75 year history, the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) has undergone many changes. Each of its organizational entities, past and present, has a rich and proud history of service to military families. Every employee (past or present) and every student or alumnus is an integral part of DoDEA’s history.

While DoDEA has had many names over the years and still has different names in our guiding legislation (DoDDS, DDESS), its school system today has in fact been a unified one since 1994 under one organization, DoDEA. To many of our graduates and former employees, we’ll always be DSS, DoDDS or DDESS or one of our many other names used in the past.

It is important for us to honor the rich history and traditions of DoDEA’s past and preserve the history of past names and accomplishments. It is equally important for us to move ahead as a unified organization that comprises one world-wide school system, one team, one mission that continues to deliver a quality education to military-connected children around the globe.