The Defense Media Activity was created by the 2005 Defense Base Realignment and Closure Act. The agency consolidates the Army Soldiers Media Center, Naval Media Center, the Marine Corps News, Air Force News Agency and the American Forces Information Service, Stars and Stripes newspaper, Army Broadcasting Service and the Defense Information School into a single Department of Defense field activity.
The state-of-the art 185,000-square-foot headquarters building was built by Hensel Phelps Construction Company, which was awarded the $56 million contract by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in March 2009.