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90-633: The basic outline for the document was agreed to at a meeting of the United States service chiefs that took place from March 11 to March 14, 1948 in Key West , Florida , and was finalized after subsequent meetings in Washington, D.C. President Harry S. Truman approved the agreement on April 21, 1948, which was revised in 1954 by the Dwight D. Eisenhower administration. The Key West Agreement

180-679: A "unified high command" in what would come to be called the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Modeled on the British Chiefs of Staff Committee, the JCS' first formal meeting was held on 9 February 1942, to coordinate operations between War and Navy Departments. The official history of the Army Air Forces noted that although there was "no official charter establishing this committee...by the end of February it had assumed responsibilities toward

270-702: A fleet. The formal agreements of the Joint Chiefs of Staff were subsequently approved by President Truman on 21 April 1948 and issued under the title of Functions of the Armed Forces and the Joint Chiefs of Staff . In turn, President Truman revoked Executive Order 9877 , in which he prescribed the primary functions and responsibilities of the Armed Forces, and Secretary Forrestal issued the “functions paper” in its stead April 21. The paper, which became known as “Key West Agreement,” reaffirmed primary service responsibilities and assigned secondary or “collateral” missions. A memorandum formally recording these understandings,

360-493: A lack of attention to " logistics in war ," and a "lack of coordination among the services." In the years following the war, President Truman had been pushing for the unification of the armed services until the passing of the National Security Act of 1947, having research conducted on the topic since 1944 and having expressed his desire for Congress to act on the issue as early as April 6, 1946. He stated in

450-620: A letter to Congress on June 15, 1946, that he "consider[s] it vital that we have a unified force for our national defense ." President Truman had worked closely with the Army and the Navy to establish a consensus, but the departments struggled to come to an agreement until 1947. However, even if everyone could admit that a military reorganization was necessary, they could not agree on how it should be done. The process of obtaining even tentative consensus would take nearly four years. On March 28, 1944,

540-434: A memo in support of postwar unification on November 2, 1942. Marshall's memo called for the following: During both World Wars, but particularly World War 2, aviation had become increasingly important. The aircraft carrier had overtaken the battleship as the Navy's premier surface combatant. Army airmen had called for an independent air service since 1919, and the Army's Air Corps had already been expanded into what bordered on

630-458: A promising way to save money by reducing duplication, and this would become a theme to which its proponents would repeatedly return. It also created a sense of urgency to quickly institutionalize lessons learned from World War 2. However, the shrinking budgets also created a zero-sum game environment which encouraged interservice bickering by pitting Army and Navy advocates against each other. Before World War II , congressional committees oversaw

720-490: A separate service. Finally, the advent of nuclear weapons delivered by bombers led some leaders, such as Curtis LeMay , to believe air power would inevitably become more decisive than ground warfare or sea power. The time seemed right to create an independent air force, but it would require congressional action. Immediately following the war, confronting the Soviets was a lower priority than ending wartime austerity, balancing

810-513: A service branch when he became the Chief of Staff of the Air Force in 2020. On May 25, 2023, President Joe Biden nominated General Brown to become the 21st Chairman of the JCS. General Brown was subsequently confirmed and took up the post of chairman on October 1, 2023. General Richard B. Myers (Chairman, 2001–2005) was the first vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to serve as chairman of

900-734: A single uniformed "Commander of all Forces." On June 19, 1945, the Department of the Navy began its own investigation. Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal requested an objective investigation of the postwar reorganization by his friend Ferdinand Eberstadt , the former chairman of the Army-Navy Munitions Board and former vice chair of the War Production Board. By late September, Eberstadt had finished his report, and Forrestal forwarded it to

990-543: A statutory member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on 20 December 2020. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is, by law, the highest-ranking military officer of the United States Armed Forces , and the principal military adviser to the president of the United States. He leads the meetings and coordinates the efforts of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, comprising the chairman, the vice chairman of

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1080-466: A way forward. On May 13th, Truman held the meeting, and demanded that Patterson and Forrestal find a way to break the impasse by the end of the month due to the urgency of passing unification legislation. He also said that he had accepted the Navy's arguments against the chief of staff. Finally, he told his chief of staff, Admiral William Leahy, to silence criticism of unification by naval officers. May 31st Patterson and Forrestal reported to him that of

1170-555: Is Troy E. Black , who was sworn in by General Charles Q. Brown Jr., chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, on 3 November 2023, replacing SEAC Ramón Colón-López . The Joint Staff ( JS ) is a military headquarters staff based at The Pentagon (with offices in Hampton Roads , Virginia; Fort Leavenworth , Kansas; Lackland Air Force Base , Texas; Fort Belvoir , Virginia; Fairchild Air Force Base , Washington and Fort McNair , District of Columbia) composed of personnel from all

1260-488: Is "only in matters relating to the conduct of the present war" and that these authorities will expire "six months after the termination of the war." During World War II, then- chief of staff of the Army George Marshall brought the idea of unification of the armed services to President Franklin D. Roosevelt , but "he was routinely rebuffed on the grounds that a substantive discussion of this option while

1350-482: Is a revised version of a collection of documents approved by President Harry S. Truman, and the more popular version as well. Initially, Secretary Forrestal told General Omar N. Bradley , shortly after the latter became Chief of Staff of the Army in February 1948, that the large aircraft carrier had already been approved and would be built. Secretary Forrestal, nevertheless, concluded that the time had come to decide

1440-479: Is assisted by the vice director of the Joint Staff , a two-star officer. Former Secretary of Defense Mark Esper tasked the Joint Staff with developing a Joint Warfighting Concept for the services by December 2020. Developing Joint all-domain command and control ( JADC2 ) as a concept is a key goal of the 20th CJCS. An OSD /Joint Staff Cross-Functional Team for JADC2 is underway . Esper ordered

1530-631: Is the body of the most senior uniformed leaders within the United States Department of Defense , which advises the president of the United States , the secretary of defense , the Homeland Security Council and the National Security Council on military matters. The composition of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is defined by statute and consists of a chairman (CJCS), a vice chairman (VJCS),

1620-643: The Cabinet -level War Department and Navy Department , and while each department was separate from the other, both were able to obtain aircraft . During this time, the President had a level of authority over the departments. After the attack on Pearl Harbor , Congress passed the First War Powers Act , which authorized the sitting president "to make such redistribution of functions among executive agencies as he may deem necessary" provided that it

1710-544: The Goldwater–Nichols Act , the Joint Chiefs of Staff does not possess operational authority over troops or other units. Responsibility for conducting military operations goes from the president to the secretary of defense directly to the commanders of the unified combatant commands and thus bypasses the Joint Chiefs of Staff completely. Today, their primary responsibility is to ensure personnel readiness, policy, planning and training of their respective services for

1800-666: The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) , created based on the British Chiefs of Staff Committee , had smoothed over these coordination problems and became President Roosevelt's principal military advisors. The JCS became a key source of advocacy for creating a single unified military department after the war. Following studies by the JCS Joint Strategic Survey Committee on ways to resolve joint roles and missions problems, George Marshall published

1890-558: The Unified Combatant Commands . All combatant commanders receive their orders directly from the secretary of defense . On 20 July 1942, Fleet Admiral William D. Leahy became Chief of Staff to the Commander in Chief (20 July 1942 – 21 March 1949). He was not technically the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Leahy's office was the precursor to the post of "Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff". That post

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1980-535: The United States government 's military and intelligence agencies following World War II . The majority of the provisions of the act took effect on September 18, 1947, the day after the Senate confirmed James Forrestal as the first secretary of defense . The act merged the Department of the Army (renamed from the Department of War ), the Department of the Navy , and the newly established Department of

2070-485: The commandant of the Coast Guard is not an ex officio member of the JCS like the other service chiefs, Coast Guard officers are legally eligible to be appointed as Chairman and Vice Chairman, pursuant to 10 U.S.C.   § 152(a)(1) and 10 U.S.C.   § 154(a)(1) respectively, which use the collective term "armed forces" rather than listing the eligible services, as well as to other positions on

2160-522: The "most significant development" for the National Guard since the Militia Act of 1903 . The 2020 National Defense Authorization Act established the U.S. Space Force on 20 December 2019. The Space Force is headed by the chief of space operations, who reports directly to the secretary of the Air Force . Pursuant to 10 U.S.C.   § 9082 , the chief of space operations became

2250-799: The Air Force (DAF) into the National Military Establishment (NME). The act also created the position of the secretary of defense as the head of the NME. It established the United States Air Force under the DAF, which worked to separate the Army Air Forces into its own service. It also protected the Marine Corps as an independent service under the Department of the Navy. Aside from the unification of

2340-423: The Air Force was given a primary mission to furnish close combat and logistical air support to the Army, to include air lift, support, and resupply of airborne operations, aerial photography , tactical reconnaissance , and interdiction of enemy land power and communications. Historically, CAS has been a function assigned to Air Force fixed wing aircraft . Assignment of CAS responsibility to the Air Force grew out of

2430-511: The American war effort comparable to the CCS on the combined level." On 20 July 1942, Admiral Leahy became the "Chief of Staff to the Commander in Chief", with all individual service chiefs operating under his authority. The first members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff were: Each of the members of the original Joint Chiefs was a four-star flag or general officer in his service branch. By the end of

2520-562: The Army and Navy often competed for resources, for example industrial production and new recruits. Enabling operations under these conditions had required the creation of numerous joint agencies and interdepartmental committees. World War 2 had also given the US military two case studies of joint operations between Europe and the Pacific. In the Pacific, the Army and Navy had experienced constant friction from command and logistics problems. In Europe,

2610-484: The Army's 91 Army divisions, 9 Marine Corps divisions, 1,166 combat ships in the Navy, and 213 combat groups in the Army Air Forces. By the end of demobilization on June 30, 1947, the Army had 10 divisions, the Marine Corps had 2 divisions, the Navy had 343 combat ships, and the Army Air Forces had 63 groups of which only 11 were fully operational. As forces were reduced and budgets were cut, unification seemed like

2700-560: The CJCS, as well as to delegate some of the chairman's responsibilities, particularly resource allocation through the Joint Requirements Oversight Council (JROC). General Colin L. Powell (Chairman, 1989–1993) was the first African American to serve on the Joint Chiefs of Staff when he became the 12th Chairman of the JCS in 1989. General Charles Q. Brown Jr. was the first African American appointed to lead

2790-420: The Coast Guard operates under the Department of Homeland Security rather than the Department of Defense , except when the president (e.g., in times of war or national emergency) transfers it to the Department of the Navy . The commandant of the Coast Guard is not a de jure member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff but is sometimes regarded as a de facto member, being entitled to the same supplemental pay as

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2880-511: The Commandant of the Marine Corps, Alexander Vandegrift, addressed the committee. The hearings ended on May 19, 1944. Due to the increasingly apparent disagreements between the two departments, committee members and military leaders agreed that a fight between them would be bad for the war effort. In June, the committee reported the time was not right for legislation, but encouraged the two departments to continue to study unification. While

2970-464: The Corps, but was not a regular member; General Lemuel C. Shepherd, Jr. , Commandant in 1952–55, was the first to sit as an occasional member. The law was amended during the term of General Louis H. Wilson, Jr. (1975–79), making the commandant a full-time JCS member in parity with the other three DoD services. The position of vice chairman was created by the Goldwater–Nichols Act of 1986 to complement

3060-696: The Homeland Security Council, the National Security Council and the president. The Joint Staff (JS) is a headquarters staff in the Pentagon , composed of personnel from each of the six service branches, that assists the chairman and the vice chairman in discharging their responsibilities and is managed by the director of the Joint Staff (DJS). After the 1986 reorganization of the Armed Forces undertaken by

3150-577: The House and Senate, and would go into effect for the 80th United States Congress. Additionally, in August, Thomas suggested to Truman that he use an executive order to execute some unification changes, for example by creating a Council of Common Defense led by Secretary of State James F. Byrnes. Thomas believed that forcing the military to operate under unification for several months might convince all involved, particularly Congress, that unification legislation

3240-648: The House passed a resolution introduced by Rep. James W. Wadsworth (R-NY) to create a Select Committee On Postwar Military Policy, and this began the debate. The committee chair was Rep. Clifton A. Woodrum (D-VA), and the committee itself was made up of seven members of the Naval Affairs Committee, seven members of the Military Affairs Committee, and nine other members. Though the War Department considered asking for

3330-534: The Joint Board had little to no impact on the manner in which the United States conducted World War I. After World War I, the two secretaries agreed in 1919 to reestablish and revitalize the Joint Board. The mission of the General Staff was to develop plans for mobilization for the next war. In these, the U.S. was always designated "blue" and potential enemies were assigned various other colors . Now,

3420-495: The Joint Board's membership was to include the chiefs of staff, their deputies, and the chief of war plans division for the Army and the director of plans division for the Navy. Under the Joint Board was to be a staff called the Joint Planning Committee to serve the board. Along with new membership, the Joint Board could initiate recommendations on its own initiative. However, the Joint Board still did not possess

3510-898: The Joint Chiefs of Staff , the chief of staff of the United States Army , the commandant of the United States Marine Corps , the chief of naval operations , the chief of staff of the United States Air Force , the Chief of Space Operations (statutory member after December 2020), and the chief of the National Guard Bureau . The Joint Chiefs of Staff have offices in the Pentagon . The chairman outranks all service chiefs, but does not maintain authority over them, their branches or

3600-450: The Joint Chiefs of Staff . General Peter Pace (Vice Chairman 2001–2005; Chairman, 2005–2007) was the first Marine to serve in either position. Admiral Lisa Franchetti became the first woman to serve on the JCS when she took over as Chief of Naval Operations on November 2, 2023. A provision in the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act added the Chief of the National Guard Bureau to the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Guard historians called it

3690-406: The Joint Chiefs of Staff do not have operational command authority, either individually or collectively, as the chain of command goes from the president to the secretary of defense, and from the secretary to the regional combatant commanders . Goldwater–Nichols also created the office of vice chairman, and the chairman is now designated as the principal military adviser to the secretary of defense,

Key West Agreement - Misplaced Pages Continue

3780-604: The Joint Chiefs, and occasionally will attend meetings of the JCS by invitation. Unlike the Joint Chiefs, who are not actually in the military's operational chain of command, the commandant is both the administrative and the operational commander of the Coast Guard. As the U.S. military grew in size following the American Civil War , joint military action between the Army and Navy became increasingly difficult. The Army and Navy were unsupportive of each other at either

3870-411: The Joint Staff. As of 2020 , no Coast Guard officer has been appointed Chairman or Vice Chairman, but Coast Guard officers routinely serve on the JCS staff, including one vice admiral who was appointed to serve as J6 in 2016. National Security Act of 1947 The National Security Act of 1947 ( Pub.L. 80-253 , 61 Stat. 495 , enacted July 26, 1947) was a law enacting major restructuring of

3960-680: The Key West Agreement of 1948. Since that time, however, the nature of combat and weaponry has evolved to a high level of technological sophistication. This was illustrated in combat experiences, as in Just Cause in Panama and the Persian Gulf War . A similar conference to revise the agreement was proposed in 1993. The Key West Agreement of 1948 was therefore vital in keeping the roles and missions of naval aviation under

4050-626: The Marine Corps, all of which had been ended by congressional oversight. He noted Marine Corps successes such as the prediction of the course of the Pacific War by Pete Ellis, and a history of extreme frugality that did not characterize other services. Finally, he denounced the War Department plan as a transparent attempt to quietly marginalize and disband the Marine Corps by removing its congressional protection. On May 7th, Clark Clifford, Truman's lead for unification legislation, told General Norstad and Assistant Secretary of War Stuart Symington that

4140-494: The Marine Corps. In January 1946, Senator Elbert D. Thomas formed a subcommittee within the Senate Military Affairs Committee to draft unification legislation. The subcommittee included Vice Admiral Arthur Radford and Major General Lauris Norstad as advisors from the Department of the Navy and the War Department. On April 9th, the subcommittee introduced the bill, S. 2044. Its key points were

4230-577: The Navy (including the United States Marine Corps ) would maintain a separate Naval Aviation force – to include the 65,000-ton " super-carrier " and nuclear bombs that could be transported on naval aircraft – provided that the Navy would not develop a separate strategic air force. The Air Force recognized the right and need for the Navy to participate in an all-out air campaign and to attack inland enemy targets, for example, air fields from which hostile aircraft might be launched to attack

4320-477: The Navy's response. The same month, Forrestal asked Sen. David Walsh, the chairman of the Naval Affairs Committee, to hold hearings of his own so that the Navy would have a chance to properly present their counterargument to the War Department Proposal. At the same time, the Commandant directed the head of Marine Corps Schools, Merrill Twining, to create a Marine Corps Board to do the same for

4410-483: The Richardson Committee presented their findings and recommendations. They found that most Army officers and about half the Navy officers favored unification to a single service, but disagreed on the details. The committee's recommendations went even farther than McNarney's, calling not only for one civilian secretary overseeing the military and none overseeing the individual services, but also calling for

4500-556: The Senate on March 3, 1947. Senator Chan Gurney was the bill's sponsor . Senator Gurney, as chairman of the Senate Committee on Armed Services , led committee hearings for the bill from mid-March to early May. The bill passed in the Senate on July 9, 1947, and in the House on July 19, 1947. The Senate agreed to a related House resolution (80 H.Con.Res. 70) on July 16, 1947. The bill received bipartisan support and

4590-511: The Senate. From October 7th to December 17, 1945, the Senate Military Affairs Committee conducted hearings to consider unification bills. These included not only S. 84, but also S. 1482, introduced in the middle of the hearings by Sens. Edwin C. Johnson (D-CO) and Harley M. Kilgore (D-WV). However, the hearings mostly became a venue for the two departments, increasingly at odds, to give their official positions on different unification plans. On October 30th, General J. Lawton Collins presented

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4680-483: The Thomas Bill could not pass in its current form, and that the Naval Affairs Committee hearings were causing it to lose more support every day. He also admitted he had been swayed by some of the Navy's objections, especially regarding the role of the chief of staff. Clifford recommended that Truman meet with the secretaries of War and the Navy and their advisors to clarify points of agreement and disagreement and find

4770-567: The U.S. Armed Forces (after the chairman). In the absence of the chairman, the vice chairman presides over the meetings of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He may also perform such duties as the chairman may prescribe. It was not until the National Defense Authorization Act in 1992 that the position was made a full voting member of the JCS. The current vice chairman is Admiral Christopher W. Grady , who began his tenure on 20 December 2021. The senior enlisted advisor to

4860-590: The United States had no equivalent body. The Joint Board's lack of authority made it of little use to the CCS, although its 1935 publication, Joint Action of the Army and Navy, did give some guidance for the joint operations during World War II. The Joint Board had little influence during the war and was ultimately disbanded in 1947. As a counterpart to the UK's Chiefs of Staff Committee in the CCS, and to provide better-coordinated effort and coordinated staff work for America's military effort, Admiral William D. Leahy proposed

4950-687: The War Department and Department of the Navy "get in line" behind the official White House policy. When questioned about Army lobbying tactics, Truman claimed ignorance, but stated he was opposed to all congressional lobbying by the two departments. On April 30th, the Senate Naval Affairs Committee began hearings to consider S. 2044. On May 6th, Commandant of the Marine Corps Alexander Vandegrift testified. His testimony noted that on multiple occasions there had been efforts to marginalize and disband

5040-538: The War Department plan in all respects. The hearings concluded as Congress went into its Christmas recess with the two departments and their congressional allies at an impasse. Over the course of the 1945 hearings, Navy and Marine Corps resistance to the War Department plan began to coalesce. In October, on the advice of Admiral Radford, Forrestal created the Secretary's Committee on Research on Reorganization (SCOROR) to track unification developments and help manage

5130-534: The War Department's plan. It combined features of recommendations made by the Richardson committee (other than Richardson's dissent) and Marshall's original plan from November 1942. Its key recommendations included the following: On November 29th, Assistant Secretary of the Navy H. Struve Hensel presented the Department of the Navy's plan. It was the recommendations of the Eberstadt Report, but left

5220-527: The Woodrum Committee met, the JCS continued to study the problem by convening their own committee of two Army officers and two Navy officers. It was led by former Pacific Fleet commander Admiral James O. Richardson . The Richardson committee interviewed eighty commanders both at war and in Washington, almost all of flag rank, to get their thoughts on postwar reorganization. On April 18, 1945,

5310-438: The basic roles and missions of aviation in each service and which branch would control which assets. On 11 March 1948 he assembled the Joint Chiefs of Staff at Key West, Florida, to thrash out the roles and missions. As basic guidance, Forrestal demanded that the three services each recognize the need for mutual support of each other’s legal missions. According to Forrestal, the Joint Chiefs of Staff reached basic agreement that

5400-458: The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (SEAC) advises on all matters concerning joint and combined total force integration, utilization, development, and helps develop noncommissioned officers related joint professional education, enhance utilization of senior NCOs on joint battle staffs, and support the chairman's responsibilities as directed. Command Sergeant Major William Gainey , was the first SEAC, serving from 1 October 2005. The current SEAC

5490-444: The chairman of the Joint Chiefs. While serving as the chairman or vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, chief of staff of the Army, commandant of the Marine Corps, Chief of Naval Operations, chief of staff of the Air Force, or commandant of the Coast Guard, basic pay is $ 18,491.70 a month, plus a $ 4,000 per year personal money allowance. Although it is a branch of the Armed Forces pursuant to 14 U.S.C.   § 101 ,

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5580-536: The chairman of the Naval Affairs Committee, David Walsh. The 200 page report's key recommendations included the following: On January 3, 1945, the first day of the 79th Congress, Rep. Jennings Randolph (D-WV) submitted unification bill H.R. 550 to the House Committee on Expenditures in the Executive Department. Two days later, Sen. Lister Hill (D-AL) introduced a similar bill, S. 84, in

5670-428: The chiefs of the Army , Marine Corps , Navy , Air Force , Space Force , and the chief of the National Guard Bureau . Each of the individual service chiefs, outside their JCS obligations, works directly under the secretaries of their respective military departments, e.g. the secretary of the Army , the secretary of the Navy , and the secretary of the Air Force . Following the Goldwater–Nichols Act in 1986,

5760-424: The combatant commanders to utilize. In addition, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff acts as the chief military advisor to the president and the secretary of defense. In this strictly advisory role, the Joint Chiefs constitute the third-highest deliberative body for military policy, after the National Security Council and the Homeland Security Council , which includes the president and other officials besides

5850-404: The control of the Navy. The Key West Agreement gave the Navy written verification that it controlled all aspects of its aviation arm, from the roles and missions, research and development, and utilization in combat. Though historians often cite the passage of the National Security Act and the Revolt of the Admirals as the key points in saving naval aviation, the agreement was just as important in

5940-422: The country was at war might undermine the war effort ." On August 26, 1944, future president Harry S. Truman , who was a senator at the time, wrote that "under such a set-up [of unification] another Pearl Harbor will not have to be feared" in his article "Our Armed Forces Must Be United". Military problems apparent during World War II that turned attention to the need for unification were a lack of preparedness ,

6030-435: The end of World War II, the Joint Chiefs of Staff was officially established under the National Security Act of 1947 . Per the National Security Act, the JCS consisted of a chairman, the chief of staff of the Army , the chief of staff of the Air Force (which was established as a separate service by the same Act), and the chief of naval operations . The commandant of the Marine Corps was to be consulted on matters concerning

6120-548: The end of the century. One of the findings that emerged was the probable role of intelligence failures linked to interservice bickering between Pearl Harbor's Army and Navy commanders, General Walter Short and Admiral Husband Kimmel. Though not a court martial, the Roberts Commission explicitly accused the two of dereliction of duty for not conferring to coordinate in light of the warnings. During World War 2, interservice cooperation remained voluntary, requiring complex interchanges of liaisons for planning and operations. Additionally,

6210-422: The federal budget, and returning to peace. This situation would not change until the Soviet Union developed nuclear weapons in 1949, followed by the Korean War in 1950. In this environment, forces were rapidly demobilized, and budgets were slashed. In Fiscal Year 1946, the military's total budget ceiling was approximately $ 42 billion. In Fiscal Year 1947, it was $ 14 billion. On V-J Day, the US military consisted of

6300-413: The floor of the House, and even this one was defeated by a vote of 153 to 135 in 1932. However, by the end of World War 2, several factors forced leaders to more seriously consider restructuring the military to improve unity. By 1945, the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor had already been investigated several times, for example by the Roberts Commission , and would continue to be investigated through almost

6390-400: The following departments where all the planning, policies, intelligence , manpower , communications and logistics functions are translated into action. The Joint Chiefs may recognize private citizens, organizations or career civilian government employees for significant achievements provided to the joint community with one of the following decorations/awards. Although, as discussed above,

6480-493: The following list of Air Force functions: From the Army’s perspective, close air support (CAS) is one of the primary support functions that the U.S. Air Force provides to Army combat operations. A benchmark 1948 policy agreement among the services, the Key West Agreement, originally delineated this function. This agreement integrated the Armed Forces into an “efficient team of land, naval, and air forces,” and, within that arrangement,

6570-414: The following: On March 15th and 16th, Army Air Corps Commanding General Carl Spaatz and Army Chief of Staff Dwight Eisenhower wrote two papers regarding unification JCS 1478/10 and 1478/11, that dealt with Army objectives for postwar unification. Marked "TOP SECRET", the two papers were blunt in their statement of their intent to marginalize the Marine Corps. The Eisenhower-Spaatz proposal's key points were

6660-474: The following: The papers were forwarded to the chief of naval operations, Admiral Chester Nimitz, for his thoughts. There the papers came to the attention of Merritt Edson, the Marine Corps liaison to the chief of naval operations. Edson alerted the commandant of the Marine Corps and the members of the Marine Corps Board, most of whom, particularly Merrill Twining, believed that the only purpose of

6750-580: The four services and the Joint Staff to create a new joint warfighting concept for All-domain operations, operating simultaneously in the air, land, sea, space, cyber, and the electromagnetic spectrum (EMS). The Joint Chiefs and Combatant Commanders witnessed demonstrations of the concept in September 2020. The Joint Staff includes the following departments where all the planning, policies, intelligence , manpower , communications and logistics functions are translated into action. The Joint Staff includes

6840-515: The hearings to be postponed to prevent an interservice fight that could hurt wartime unity, they decided not to when Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox told Secretary of War Henry Stimson that he also favored unification. The hearings began on April 24, 1944. On the second day, Lieutenant General Joseph McNarney presented the War Department's plan for unification, which was essentially Marshall's plan as laid out in his memo. On May 11th,

6930-642: The keeping land- and carrier-based naval aviation from being incorporated into the United States Air Force. Without the Key West Agreement, naval aviation might have developed under Air Force control during the Cold War years. The terms of the Key West Agreement were considered a tremendous victory for the Navy. The Navy in the Key West Conference stopped the Air Force from controlling the roles and missions of naval aviation. Joint Chiefs of Staff The Joint Chiefs of Staff ( JCS )

7020-549: The legal authority to enforce its decisions. U.S. president Franklin D. Roosevelt and British prime minister Winston Churchill established the Combined Chiefs of Staff (CCS) during the 1942 Arcadia Conference . The CCS would serve as the supreme military body for strategic direction of the joint U.S.–UK war effort. The UK portion of the CCS would be composed of the British Chiefs of Staff Committee , but

7110-478: The management of the Joint Staff, an organization composed of approximately equal numbers of officers contributed by the Army, the Navy and Marine Corps, the Air Force, the Space Force, and the Coast Guard, who have been assigned to assist the chairman in providing to the secretary of defense unified strategic direction, operation, and integration of the combatant land, naval, space, and air forces. The director

7200-508: The papers' high classification was to conceal the Army's goals from Congress. Nimitz replied on March 30th, and included responses by the Commandant and by the head of Naval Aviation, both of whom were strongly against the proposals. Following the bill's introduction, the Department of the Navy openly opposed it. In a press conference on April 11th, Truman said he had not authorized Navy officers to speak against unification, only to offer their honest opinions. He demanded that members of both

7290-531: The planning or operational level and were constrained by disagreements during the Spanish–American War in the Caribbean campaigns. The Joint Army and Navy Board was established in 1903 by President Theodore Roosevelt , comprising representatives from the military heads and chief planners of both the Navy's General Board and the Army's General Staff . The Joint Board acting as an "advisory committee"

7380-447: The question of an independent air force up to Congress. Proponents of the Department of the Navy's plan came across as obstructionists due to the previous Woodrum Committee hearings having framed the debate entirely in terms of the War Department plan. Proponents of the War Department's plan repeatedly emphasized the cost savings it would provide. On December 19th, Truman let Congress know his own thoughts on unification. They mirrored

7470-525: The six armed services, assisting the chairman and the vice chairman in discharging their responsibilities. They work closely with the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD), the military department staffs, and the Combatant Command staffs. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (CJCS) is assisted by the director of the Joint Staff (DJS), a three-star officer who assists the chairman with

7560-586: The three military departments, the act established the National Security Council and the Central Intelligence Agency , the latter of which is headed by the Director of Central Intelligence . The legislation was a result of efforts by Harry S. Truman beginning in 1944. President Truman proposed the legislation to Congress on February 26, 1947. The bill was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives on February 28, 1947, and in

7650-610: The twelve points in S. 2044 they agreed on eight and disagreed on four. The points of agreement were as follows: The remaining points of disagreement were the following: The period of rival Military Affairs Committee and Naval Affairs Committee hearings came to an end for good on August 2nd, when Truman signed the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 . It combined the Military Affairs and Naval Affairs Committees into Armed Services Committees in

7740-802: The war each had been promoted: Leahy and King to fleet admiral ; Marshall and Arnold to general of the Army . Arnold was later appointed to the grade of general of the Air Force . One of the Joint Chiefs of Staff's committees was the Joint Strategic Survey Committee (JSSC). The JSSC, "one of the most influential planning agencies in the wartime armed forces", was an extraordinary JCS committee that existed from 1942 until 1947. Members included Lieutenant General Stanley D. Embick , U.S. Army, chairman, 1942–1946, Vice Admiral Russell Willson , U.S. Navy, 1942–1945, Vice Admiral Theodore Stark Wilkinson , U.S. Navy, 1946, and Major General Muir S. Fairchild , U.S. Army Air Force, 1942–?. With

7830-407: Was created to plan joint operations and resolve problems of common rivalry between the two services. Yet the Joint Board accomplished little since its charter gave it no authority to enforce its decisions. The Joint Board also lacked the ability to originate its own opinions and was thus limited to commenting only on the problems submitted to it by the secretaries of war and Navy . As a result,

7920-479: Was established and first held by General of the Army Omar Bradley in 1949. The current and 21st chairman is General Charles Q. Brown Jr. , who began his tenure on 29 September 2023. The position of Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff was created by the Goldwater–Nichols Act of 1986. The vice chairman is a four-star- general or admiral and, by law, is the second highest-ranking member of

8010-409: Was passed in both chambers by voice vote . The National Security Act of 1947 was signed into law by President Truman on July 26, 1947, while aboard his VC-54C presidential aircraft Sacred Cow . From 1921 to 1945, Congress considered approximately 50 bills to reorganize the armed forces. Mostly due to opposition by both the Department of the Navy and the War Department, all but one failed to reach

8100-421: Was sent to the Secretary of Defense by the Joint Chiefs of Staff on 29 April 1948. After amending one paragraph that dealt with research and development, the Secretary of Defense formally approved it on 1 July 1948. Less than a year after Truman’s executive order was issued, the Key West Agreement listed service functions in greater detail and distinguished between primary and collateral functions as illustrated by

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