| 100% | GWU | 3 | Sch. where Secretary of Defense Mark Esper got his PhD (abbr.) |
| 30% | NYU | 3 | Sch. where Ang Lee got his M.F.A. |
| 29% | PETE | 4 | Secretary of Defense Hegseth |
| 29% | MCELROY | 7 | Secretary of Defense, 1957-59 |
| 29% | HAGEL | 5 | Secretary of defense after Panetta |
| 29% | CABINETPOST | 11 | Secretary of Defense, for one |
| 28% | COHEN | 5 | Clinton secretary of defense |
| 28% | LEON | 4 | Former Secretary of Defense Panetta |
| 28% | MCNAMARA | 8 | 1960s Secretary of Defense Robert |
| 27% | ASPIN | 5 | Clinton's first secretary of defense |
| 27% | LLOYD | 5 | ___ Austin, Biden's secretary of defense |
| 27% | LEON | 4 | Former Secretary of Defense Panetta (2011-2013) |
| 27% | LLOYDAUSTIN | 11 | Current US Secretary of Defense: 2 wds. |
| 27% | LESASPIN | 8 | Bill Clinton’s first Secretary of Defense |
| 27% | MCNAMARA | 8 | Robert —, US Secretary of Defense from 1961-68 |
| 27% | WEINBERGER | 10 | Caspar —, US Secretary of Defense from 1981-87 |
| 27% | ASH | 3 | 2015-2017 U.S. Secretary of Defense ___ Carter |
| 27% | LESASPIN | 8 | Dick Cheney’s successor as Secretary of Defense |
| 26% | ABMS | 4 | Means of defense: Abbr. |
| 26% | MILITARY | 8 | Armed forces headed up by the secretary of defense |
| 26% | ASHCARTER | 9 | Barack Obama's final secretary of defense (2015-17) |
| 26% | USDA | 4 | Secretary of Agriculture heads this department: Abbr. |
| 26% | ASPIN | 5 | Les who was Bill Clinton’s first Secretary of Defense |
| 25% | MBA | 3 | Bush got his at Harvard: Abbr. |
| 25% | NSA | 3 | Secretive Department of Defense group: Abbr. |
| 25% | ERASED | 6 | Got rid of marks |
| 25% | LES | 3 | Bill Clinton's Secretary of Defense of the early nineties, ___ Aspin |
| 25% | LEON | 4 | Panetta who was Obama's CIA Director and Secretary of Defense |
| 25% | MIT | 3 | Sch. where Buzz Aldrin got a doctorate |
| 25% | PRICETAGS | 9 | Where markdowns get marked down |