Joint Chiefs of Staff
The Joint Chiefs of Staff (short JCS , German about United Chiefs of Staff or also United General Staff ) are a body that the US President and the US Secretary of Defense as well as the chairman of the United States Homeland Security Council and the United States National Security Council in military Has questions to advise. However, due to their membership in the committee, they have no authority, either individually or jointly . Members are the chairman ( chairman ) and deputy chairman ( vice chairman ) of the JCS, the Chief of Staff of the US armed forces and the Chief of the National Guard Bureau . The members of the body are appointed by the President and confirmed by the US Senate. They are subordinate to an extensive military and civil planning and command apparatus. In October 2008 the JCS had almost 210 civilian employees.
history
On July 20, 1942 Admiral was William D. Leahy Chief of Staff to the Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy (dt about. Chief of Staff of the Commander of the Army and Navy , that is, in other words.. Chief of Staff of the President ). This item was not de jure , but de facto that of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (dt. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff ). The first official CJCS was the General of the Army Omar N. Bradley in 1949. The background to the establishment of this institution was the aim to achieve better coordination of the armed forces at the same time as their massive expansion due to the war. An example was the existing committee of the British Chiefs of Staff Committee , with which close cooperation was sought. For the duration of the Second World War , the Combined Chiefs of Staff , consisting of the British and US Chiefs of Staff , was formed from both organizations .
After the reorganization of the military chain of command carried out in 1986 by the Goldwater-Nichols Act , the Joint Chiefs of Staff no longer have any operational authority over the US armed forces, but rather their task is to ensure that the readiness of every part of the armed forces is ensured. The operational chain of command runs from the US President to the US Secretary of Defense to the individual commanders of the Unified Combatant Commands .
The JCS also advises the President and his Secretary of Defense, and the Chairman is the President's main adviser on military matters. Of particular importance for Germany were two directives that were presented to US President Harry S. Truman by the JCS: the Joint Chiefs of Staff directive 1067 , which he signed in May 1945, and the Joint Chiefs of Staff directive 1779 , which he put into effect in July 1947.
The post of Senior Enlisted Advisor to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (SEAC) has existed since October 2005 . This sergeant is the advisor to the chief of staff in matters relating to the non-commissioned officers and soldiers of the team US forces in mixed major associations relate.
The Chief of the National Guard Bureau has been a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff since fiscal 2012 .
assignment
The Goldwater-Nichols Act of 1986 defines the chairman (chairman) established as a highest-ranking soldiers of the US armed forces. In this position he is in principle the first military contact or advisor to the US President. In his work he can consult with the other members of the JCS and the Combatant Commanders . So let him present the full range of opinions he has heard and complement them with the comments of the other Chiefs of Staff. Nevertheless, the chairman does not represent the top of the chain of command, as operational management lies with the Combatant Commanders , who in turn are headed by the National Command Authority .
The vice chairman is the second most senior soldier in the United States Armed Forces by law and performs the duties assigned by the chairman. He takes the place of the chairman in his absence or in the event of his inability to continue in his office. Originally, the alternate was not a member of the JCS, but became a voting member under Section 911 of the National Defense Authorization Act of 1992.
The Joint Staff
A whole staff, the Joint Staff , is subordinate to the chairman or the JCS itself . This staff supports the chairman in his tasks: the combined strategic overall leadership of the combat forces, their operation under the individual Unified Combatant Commands, the integration into efficient teams - in the sense of the combat of combined arms - from land, maritime and air forces. If possible, the Joint Staff is made up equally of staff from all branches of the armed forces. In practice, the Marines make up 20% of the positions assigned to the US Navy. Since it was set up in 1947, the statutes have forbidden the Joint Staff to work as a general general staff across the armed forces. Therefore, the Joint Staff has no executive power over the combat forces.
After consulting with the other JCS and obtaining approval from the Secretary of Defense, the Chair will appoint the Director of the Joint Staff to help him use that staff effectively. According to the law, however, the ultimate authority is the chairman. The Joint Staff can also assist the individual members of the JCS if the chairman orders it.
The Joint Staff is composed as follows:
- Director of the Joint Staff
- J-1 staff
- J-2 Joint Staff Intelligence Service
- J-3 operations
- J-4 logistics
- J-5 Strategic Planning and Guidelines
- J-6 C4CS (Command, Control, Communication, Consultation and Computer Systems)
- J-7 operational plans and interoperability
- J-8 Force Structure, Resources and Assessment
- Management Directorate (led by the Vice Director of the Joint Staff)
In the cross-armed forces work, a number of officers from the JCS generals assist in matters of lesser relevance. Each branch chief of staff appoints an operations deputy who works with the director of the joint staff. These Operations Deputies ( OPSDEPS ) hold meetings to do preparatory matters and later submit them to the JCS. With the exception of the director, this additional staff is not part of the Joint Staff. In addition to this advisory staff, there are also deputy operations deputies , which are made up of the Vice Director of the Joint Staff and a Rear Admiral or Major General from the respective armed forces. Currently these are the directors for planning and strategy of the individual armed forces. They prepare topics for the surrogates. With the exception of the Vice Director, this staff is not part of the Joint Staff either. The JCS or its strategy papers determine exactly what these advisory staffs work on. The Director of the Joint Staff is entitled to review the matters dealt with and, if there is no divergent point of view between the armed forces, the regulations with the strategy of the chairman agrees that the matter has not been suggested by any of the members of the JCS and therefore does not require the JCS 'attention. Therefore, the provisions or decisions of the operation representatives or their deputies have the same effectiveness as decisions of the JCS itself.
On August 9, 2010, US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates announced that the US Joint Forces Command would be dissolved due to austerity constraints within a year and the tasks would be transferred to the Joint Staff .
Current composition
The current Joint Chiefs of Staff are
position | photo | Surname | Armed forces | flag |
---|---|---|---|---|
Chairman | General Mark A. Milley | US Army | ||
Deputy Chairman | General John E. Hyten | US Air Force | ||
Chief of Staff of the Army | General James C. McConville | US Army | ||
Commandant of the Marine Corps | General David H. Berger | US Marine Corps | ||
Chief of Naval Operations | Admiral Michael M. Gilday | Navy | ||
Chief of Staff of the Air Force | General David L. Goldfein | US Air Force | ||
Chief of the National Guard Bureau | General Joseph L. Lengyel | US Air Force | ||
Commandant of the Coast Guard (unofficial) | Admiral Karl L. Schultz | US Coast Guard |
Previous chair
No. | Name and rank | image | Start of office | End of office |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | General of the Army Omar N. Bradley (USA) | August 16, 1949 | 15th August 1953 | |
2 | Admiral Arthur W. Radford (USN) | 15th August 1953 | August 15, 1957 | |
3 | General Nathan F. Twining (USAF) | August 15, 1957 | September 30, 1960 | |
4th | General Lyman L. Lemnitzer (USA) | October 1, 1960 | September 30, 1962 | |
5 | General Maxwell D. Taylor (USA) | October 1, 1962 | July 1, 1964 | |
6th | General Earle G. Wheeler (USA) | 3rd July 1964 | 2nd July 1970 | |
7th | Admiral Thomas H. Moorer (USN) | 2nd July 1970 | 2nd July 1974 | |
8th | General George S. Brown (USAF) | 2nd July 1974 | June 20, 1978 | |
9 | General David C. Jones (USAF) | June 21, 1978 | June 18, 1982 | |
10 | General John W. Vessey, Jr. (USA) | June 18, 1982 | September 30, 1985 | |
11 | Admiral William J. Crowe, Jr. (USN) | October 1, 1985 | September 30, 1989 | |
12 | General Colin L. Powell (USA) | October 1, 1989 | September 30, 1993 | |
interim | Admiral David E. Jeremiah (USN) | October 1, 1993 | October 24, 1993 | |
13 | General John M. Shalikashvili (USA) | October 25, 1993 | September 30, 1997 | |
14th | General Henry H. Shelton ( USA ) | October 1, 1997 | September 30, 2001 | |
15th | General Richard B. Myers ( USAF ) | October 1, 2001 | September 30, 2005 | |
16 | General Peter Pace ( USMC ) | October 1, 2005 | October 1, 2007 | |
17th | Admiral Michael G. Mullen ( USN ) | October 1, 2007 | September 29, 2011 | |
18th | General Martin E. Dempsey ( USA ) | September 30, 2011 | September 30, 2015 | |
19th | General Joseph F. Dunford ( USMC ) | October 1, 2015 | September 30, 2019 | |
20th | General Mark A. Milley ( USA ) | September 30, 2019 | --- |
Previous deputy chair
No. | Name and rank | image | Start of office | End of office |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | General Robert T. Herres (USAF) | February 6, 1987 | February 28, 1990 | |
2 | Admiral David E. Jeremiah (USN) | March 1, 1990 | February 28, 1994 | |
3 | Admiral William A. Owens (USN) | March 1, 1994 | February 27, 1996 | |
4th | General Joseph W. Ralston (USAF) | March 1, 1996 | February 29, 2000 | |
5 | General Richard B. Myers (USAF) | February 29, 2000 | October 1, 2001 | |
6th | General Peter Pace (USMC) | October 1, 2001 | August 12, 2005 | |
7th | Admiral Edmund P. Giambastiani (USN) | August 12, 2005 | July 27, 2007 | |
8th | General James E. Cartwright (USMC) | August 31, 2007 (in office since August 3) |
August 3, 2011 | |
9 | Admiral James A. Winnefeld Jr. (USN) | 4th August 2011 | July 30, 2015 | |
10 | General Paul J. Selva (USAF) | July 31, 2015 | July 31, 2019 | |
11 | General John E. Hyten (USAF) | November 21, 2019 | --- |
See also
literature
- Amy B. Zegart: Flawed by design. The evolution of the CIA, JCS, and NSC. Stanford University Press, Stanford CA 1999, ISBN 0-8047-3504-2 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ 10 USC § 151 - Joint Chiefs of Staff: composition; functions .
- ^ Directive to the United States Military Governor for Germany (Clay)
- ^ Robert A. Selig: America's Long Road to the Federal Republic of Germany (West) . In: German Life , June / July 1998 pdf 131 kB
- ↑ Gates to close JFCOM, cut gen. Officer billets ( Memento of the original from March 15, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (MarineCorpsTimes.com, August 10, 2010; English)