Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
| Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff | |
|---|---|
 Seal of the Joint Chiefs of Staff | |
 Flag of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff | |
| Joint Chiefs of Staff | |
| Type | Highest-ranking military officer |
| Abbreviation | CJCS |
| Member of | Joint Chiefs of Staff National Security Council |
| Reports to | President of the United States Secretary of Defense |
| Residence | Quarters 6, Fort Myer[2] |
| Seat | The Pentagon, Arlington County, Virginia |
| Nominator | Secretary of Defense |
| Appointer | The President with Senate advice and consent |
| Term length | 4 years |
| Constituting instrument | 10 U.S.C. § 152 10 U.S.C. § 153 |
| Precursor | Chief of Staff to the Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy |
| Formation | August 19, 1949 |
| First holder | General of the Army Omar Bradley |
| Deputy | Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Director of the Joint Staff (Joint Staff) Senior Enlisted Advisor to the Chairman (Enlisted Matters) Assistant to the Chairman (Personal Matters) |
| Website | www |
The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (CJCS) is the presiding officer of the United States Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS). They are the highest-ranking and most senior military officer in the United States Armed Forces[3] and the principal military advisor to the president, the National Security Council,[4] the Homeland Security Council,[4] and the secretary of defense.[4][5] While the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff outranks all other commissioned officers, the chairman is prohibited by law from having operational command authority over the armed forces; however, the chairman does assist the president and the secretary of defense in exercising their command functions.[6]
The chairman convenes the meetings and coordinates the efforts of the Joint Chiefs, an advisory body within the Department of Defense comprising the chairman, the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the chief of staff of the Army, the commandant of the Marine Corps, the chief of naval operations, the chief of staff of the Air Force, the chief of space operations, and the chief of the National Guard Bureau.[4] The post of a statutory and permanent Joint Chiefs of Staff chair was created by the 1949 amendments to the National Security Act of 1947. The 1986 Goldwater–Nichols Act elevated the chairman from the first among equals to becoming the "principal military advisor" to the president and the secretary of defense.
The Joint Staff, managed by the director of the Joint Staff and consisting of military personnel from all the services, assists the chairman in fulfilling his duties to the president and secretary of defense, and functions as a conduit and collector of information between the chairman and the combatant commanders. The National Military Command Center (NMCC) is part of the Joint Staff operations directorate (J-3).
Although the office of Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is considered very important and highly prestigious, neither the chairman, the vice chairman, nor the Joint Chiefs of Staff as a body has any command authority over combatant forces. The Goldwater–Nichols Act places the operational chain of command from the president to the secretary of defense directly to the commanders of the unified combatant commands.[7] However the services chiefs do have authority over personnel assignments and oversight over resources and personnel allocated to the combatant commands within their respective services (derived from the service secretaries).
The chairman may also transmit communications to the combatant commanders from the president and secretary of defense[8] as well as allocate additional funding to the combatant commanders if necessary.[9] The chairman also performs all other functions prescribed under 10 U.S.C. § 153 or allocates those duties and responsibilities to other officers in the joint staff under his or her name.
Organization and assistants[]
The principal deputy to the chairman is the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (VCJCS), another four-star general or admiral, who among many duties chairs the Joint Requirements Oversight Council (JROC).
The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is assisted by the Joint Staff, led by the director of the Joint Staff, a three-star general or admiral. The Joint Staff is an organization composed of approximately equal numbers of officers contributed by the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Space Force who have been assigned to assist the chairman with the unified strategic direction, operation, and integration of the combatant land, naval, air, and space forces. The National Military Command Center (NMCC) is part of the Joint Staff operations directorate (J-3).
The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is also advised on enlisted personnel matters by the senior enlisted advisor to the chairman, who serves as a communication conduit between the chairman and the senior enlisted advisors (command sergeants major, command master chief petty officers, and command chief master sergeants) of the combatant commands.
Precursor[]
Fleet Admiral William D. Leahy, USN, served as the chief of staff to the commander in chief of the Army and Navy from 20 July 1942 to 21 March 1949. He presided over meetings of what was called the Joint Chiefs of Staff,[10] and Leahy's office was the precursor to the post of Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, created in 1949.
Appointment and rank[]
The chairman is nominated by the president for appointment from any of the regular components of the armed forces, and must be confirmed via majority vote by the Senate.[3] The chairman and vice chairman may not be members of the same armed force service branch.[11] However, the president may waive that restriction for a limited period of time in order to provide for the orderly transition of officers appointed to serve in those positions.[11] The chairman serves a single four-year term of office[3][12] at the pleasure of the president,[3] with reappointment to additional terms only possible during times of war or national emergency.[3] Historically, the chairman served two two-year terms, until the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017 amended the chairman's term of office to a single four-year term.[12] By statute, the chairman is appointed as a four-star general or admiral while holding office[3] and assumes office on October 1 of odd-numbered years.[3]
Although the first chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Omar Bradley, was eventually awarded a fifth star, the CJCS does not receive one by right, and Bradley's award was so that his subordinate, General of the Army Douglas MacArthur, would not outrank him.[13][14] In the 1990s, there were proposals in Department of Defense academic circles to bestow on the office of Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff a five-star rank.[15][16][17]
Previously during the presidency of Harry S. Truman and Dwight D. Eisenhower, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff position was rotated in accordance with the incumbent chairman's armed force service branch. In this rotation, the incoming chairman would be from a different service branch. For example, in 1957, following the retirement of Admiral Arthur W. Radford as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, President Eisenhower nominated United States Air Force general Nathan F. Twining as Radford's successor. When General Twining retired, Eisenhower nominated Army general Lyman Lemnitzer to succeed Twining as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.[18]
However, in October 1962, when President Kennedy appointed Army general Maxwell Taylor as General Lemnitzer's successor, Kennedy eventually broke the traditional rotation for the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff position between the Air Force, Navy, Marines, and Army. Kennedy replaced a chairman who was from the Army with a general who was also from the Army. At that time, Kennedy should have appointed either Air Force chief of staff General Curtis E. LeMay, Chief of Naval Operations Admiral George Whelan Anderson Jr., or Commandant of the Marine Corps General David M. Shoup to succeed General Lemnitzer as the fifth chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Since that, the traditional rotation was abolished.[19][20][18]
The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff was an Army general for three consecutive terms from 1960 to 1970: Army general Lyman Lemnitzer served as chairman from 1960 until 1962. Lemnitzer was replaced by Army general Maxwell Taylor, who served from 1962 until 1964. Taylor was replaced by Army general Earle Wheeler, who served from 1964 until 1970.[20][21] The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff was also an Army general for three consecutive terms from 1989 to 2001: Army general Colin Powell served as chairman from 1989 until 1993 and was succeeded by Army general John Shalikashvilli, who served from 1993 until 1997. When General Shalikashvilli retired in 1997, he was also succeeded by Army general Hugh Shelton, who served from 1997 until 2001.[22] With Army general Mark Milley assuming the position of chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in October 2019, exactly half of the chairmen—10 out of 20—have been Army generals.[23]
According to the 2020 Monthly Rates of Basic Pay (Commissioned Officer) - (effective January 1, 2020), basic pay is limited to the rate of basic pay for level II of the Executive Schedule in effect during calendar year 2020, which is $16,441.80 per month for officers at pay grades O-7 through O-10. This includes officers serving as chairman or vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, chief of staff of the Army, chief of naval operations, chief of staff of the Air Force, chief of space operations, commandant of the Marine Corps, commandant of the Coast Guard, chief of the National Guard Bureau, or commander of a unified or specified combatant command.[24]
List of chairmen[]
Chief of Staff to the Commander in Chief (historical predecessor office)[]
| No. | Portrait | Chief of Staff to the Commander in Chief | Took office | Left office | Time in office | Service branch | Secretaries of Defense | President |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fleet Admiral William D. Leahy (1875–1959) | July 20, 1942 | March 21, 1949 | 6 years, 244 days |  U.S. Navy | Henry L. Stimson Robert P. Patterson Kenneth C. Royall (of War) Frank Knox (of Navy) James V. Forrestal (1st DOD) | Franklin D. Roosevelt Harry S. Truman |
Chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff[]
| No. | Portrait | Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff | Took office | Left office | Time in office | Service branch | Secretaries of Defense | President |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | General of the Army Omar Bradley (1893–1981) | August 19, 1949 | August 15, 1953 | 3 years, 361 days |  U.S. Army | Louis A. Johnson George C. Marshall Robert A. Lovett | Harry S. Truman Dwight D. Eisenhower | |
| 2 | Admiral Arthur W. Radford (1896–1973) | August 15, 1953 | August 15, 1957 | 4 years, 0 days | U.S. Navy | Charles Erwin Wilson | Dwight D. Eisenhower | |
| 3 | General Nathan F. Twining (1897–1982) | August 15, 1957 | September 30, 1960 | 3 years, 46 days |  U.S. Air Force | Charles Erwin Wilson Neil H. McElroy Thomas S. Gates | Dwight D. Eisenhower | |
| 4 | General Lyman Lemnitzer (1899–1988) | October 1, 1960 | September 30, 1962 | 2 years, 0 days | U.S. Army | Thomas S. Gates Robert McNamara | Dwight D. Eisenhower John F. Kennedy | |
| 5 | General Maxwell D. Taylor (1901–1987) | October 1, 1962 | July 1, 1964 | 1 year, 275 days | U.S. Army | Robert McNamara | John F. Kennedy Lyndon B. Johnson | |
| 6 | General Earle Wheeler (1908–1975) | July 3, 1964 | July 2, 1970 | 5 years, 364 days | U.S. Army | Robert McNamara Clark Clifford Melvin Laird | Lyndon B. Johnson Richard Nixon | |
| 7 | Admiral Thomas H. Moorer (1912–2004) | July 2, 1970 | July 1, 1974 | 3 years, 364 days | U.S. Navy | Melvin Laird Elliot Richardson James R. Schlesinger | Richard Nixon | |
| 8 | General George S. Brown (1918–1978) | July 1, 1974 | June 20, 1978 | 3 years, 354 days | U.S. Air Force | James R. Schlesinger Donald Rumsfeld Harold Brown | Richard Nixon Gerald Ford Jimmy Carter | |
| 9 | General David C. Jones (1921–2013) | June 21, 1978 | June 18, 1982 | 3 years, 362 days | U.S. Air Force | Harold Brown Caspar Weinberger | Jimmy Carter Ronald Reagan | |
| 10 | General John William Vessey Jr. (1922–2016) | June 18, 1982 | September 30, 1985 | 3 years, 104 days | U.S. Army | Caspar Weinberger | Ronald Reagan | |
| 11 | Admiral William J. Crowe (1925–2007) | October 1, 1985 | September 30, 1989 | 3 years, 364 days | U.S. Navy | Caspar Weinberger Frank Carlucci Dick Cheney | Ronald Reagan George H.W. Bush | |
| 12 | General Colin Powell (1937–2021) | October 1, 1989 | September 30, 1993 | 3 years, 364 days | U.S. Army | Dick Cheney Les Aspin | George H.W. Bush Bill Clinton | |
| − | Admiral David E. Jeremiah (1934–2013) Acting | October 1, 1993 | October 24, 1993 | 23 days | U.S. Navy | Les Aspin | Bill Clinton | |
| 13 | General John Shalikashvili (1936–2011) | October 25, 1993 | September 30, 1997 | 3 years, 341 days | U.S. Army | Les Aspin William J. Perry William S. Cohen | Bill Clinton | |
| 14 | General Hugh Shelton (born 1942) | October 1, 1997 | September 30, 2001 | 3 years, 364 days | U.S. Army | William S. Cohen Donald Rumsfeld | Bill Clinton George W. Bush | |
| 15 | General Richard Myers (born 1942) | October 1, 2001 | September 30, 2005 | 4 years, 0 days | U.S. Air Force | Donald Rumsfeld | George W. Bush | |
| 16 | General Peter Pace (born 1945) | October 1, 2005 | September 30, 2007 | 1 year, 364 days |  U.S. Marine Corps | Donald Rumsfeld Robert M. Gates | George W. Bush | |
| 17 | Admiral Michael Mullen (born 1946) | October 1, 2007 | September 30, 2011 | 3 years, 364 days | U.S. Navy | Robert M. Gates Leon Panetta | George W. Bush Barack Obama | |
| 18 | General Martin Dempsey (born 1952) | October 1, 2011 | September 25, 2015 | 3 years, 359 days | U.S. Army | Leon Panetta Chuck Hagel Ash Carter | Barack Obama | |
| 19 | General Joseph Dunford (born 1955) | October 1, 2015 | September 30, 2019 | 3 years, 364 days | U.S. Marine Corps | Ash Carter James Mattis Mark Esper | Barack Obama Donald Trump | |
| 20 | General Mark A. Milley (born 1958) | October 1, 2019 | Incumbent | 2 years, 86 days | U.S. Army | Mark Esper Lloyd Austin | Donald Trump Joe Biden |
Chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff by branches of service[]
- Army: 10
- Navy: 4
- Air Force: 4
- Marine Corps: 2
- Coast Guard: none
- Space Force: none
Timeline[]
Gallery[]
General Nathan F. Twining is sworn in as the third chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, 1957.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Nathan F. Twining at a NATO conference in Paris, France.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General George S. Brown during a press conference at the White House in 1975.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General George S. Brown with Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld on January 15, 1976.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General David C. Jones with National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski and Deputy National Security Advisor David Aaron during a National Security Council meeting at the White House on December 20, 1978.
General David C. Jones, the ninth chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, presides over a JCS meeting with the commanders of unified and specified commands in the Gold Room, also known as "The Tank", on January 15, 1981.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff in 1981.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General David C. Jones with former chairman Omar Bradley on January 20, 1981.
General Hugh Shelton hosting a conference in the Pentagon for former chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on December 1, 2000.[25]
The Joint Chiefs of Staff photographed in "The Tank," in the Pentagon in 2001.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Richard B. Myers delivers opening remarks during a town hall meeting at the Pentagon.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Richard B. Myers with Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld during a press conference at the Pentagon on September 20, 2003.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Peter Pace testifies before the Senate Armed Services Committee on June 29, 2005.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Peter Pace and his wife, Lynne, applaud the military demonstrations at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Charlotte, North Carolina on May 27, 2007.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Michael Mullen with former chairmen Richard B. Myers and Peter Pace in 2009.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Michael Mullen speaking at Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota on February 18, 2009.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Michael Mullen with Secretary of Defense Robert Gates.
General Mark A. Milley is sworn in as the 20th chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff by General Joseph Dunford, the outgoing chairman, in a ceremony at Joint Base Myer–Henderson Hall, September 30, 2019.
See also[]
- Chief of Defence
- Chief of the Defence Force
- Chief of the Defence Staff
- Chief of the General Staff
- National Command Authority (United States)
- National Military Strategy (United States)
- Single Integrated Operational Plan
- Unified Command Plan
References[]
Citations[]
- ^ General Mark A. Milley.- Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff
- ^ "Quarters Six, The Official Residence of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff" (PDF). Retrieved 17 May 2021.
- ^ a b c d e f g 10 U.S.C. § 152 Chairman: appointment; grade and rank
- ^ a b c d 10 U.S.C. § 151 - Joint Chiefs of Staff: composition; functions
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 14 May 2011. Retrieved 24 September 2009.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) Goldwater–Nichols Act of 1986
- ^ 10 U.S.C. § 153 - Chairman: functions
- ^ 10 U.S.C. § 162 - Combatant commands: assigned forces; chain of command
- ^ 10 U.S.C. § 163 - Role of Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff
- ^ 10 U.S.C. § 166a - Combatant commands: funding through the Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff
- ^ "Washington Eats". Life. 5 October 1942. p. 95. Retrieved 20 November 2011.
- ^ a b 10 U.S.C. § 154 - Vice Chairman
- ^ a b Public Law 114–328 - The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017 increased the term length Chairman and the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from two years to four years.
- ^ Abrams, Jim (22 March 1991). "Higher rank not in the stars for nation's top generals". Associated Press.
Bradley received his fifth star in 1950 when he became chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff so he would not be outranked by MacArthur.
- ^ Tillman, Barrett (2004). Brassey's D-Day encyclopedia: the Normandy invasion A-Z. Brassey's. p. 48. ISBN 978-1-57488-760-0. Retrieved 22 February 2011.
MacArthur, having been army chief of staff before World War II, was senior to everyone on the Joint Chiefs, and some observers felt that Bradley was given his fifth star in order to deal with the vainglorious field commander on an equal footing.
- ^ Organizing for National Security: The Role of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Institute for Foreign Analysis. January 1986. p. 11. ISBN 9780895490742. Retrieved 21 February 2011.
There was some discussion of the proposal to grant the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs five-star rank, as a symbol of his status as the most senior officer in the armed forces.
- ^ Jones, Logan (February 2000). "Toward the Valued Idea of Jointness: The Need for Unity of Command in U.S. Armed Forces". Naval War College: 2. ADA378445. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 October 2017. Retrieved 21 February 2011. Lay summary.
Promoting the Chairman to the five-star rank and ceding to him operational and administrative control of all U.S. Armed Forces would enable him to provide a unifying vision...
Cite journal requires|journal=(help) - ^ Owsley, Robert Clark (June 1997). "Goldwater-Nichols Almost Got It Right: A Fifth Star for the Chairman". Naval War College: 14. ADA328220. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 October 2017. Retrieved 21 February 2011. Lay summary.
...Chairman's title be changed to Commander of the Armed Forces and commensurate with the title and authority he be assigned the grade of five stars.
Cite journal requires|journal=(help) - ^ a b Rearden, Steven L. (30 July 2012). Council of War: A History of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, 1942-1991. Military Bookshop. ISBN 978-1780398877.
- ^ McMaster, Herbert Raymond (8 May 1998). Dereliction of Duty: Johnson, McNamara, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Lies That Led to Vietnam. Harper Perennial. p. 22. ISBN 978-0060929084.
- ^ a b Perry, Mark (1 March 1989). Four-Stars: The Inside Story of The Forty-Year Battle Between The Joint Chiefs of Staff and America's Civilian Leaders. Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 978-0395429235.
- ^ McMaster, Herbert Raymond (9 May 1998). Dereliction of Duty: Johnson, McNamara, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Lies That Led to Vietnam. Harper Perennial. ISBN 978-0060929084.
- ^ Perry, Mark (24 October 2017). The Pentagon's Wars: The Military's Undeclared War Against America's Presidents. Basic Books. ISBN 978-0465079711.
- ^ Mehta, Aaron (25 July 2019). "Senate confirms Milley as chairman of the Joint Chiefs". defensenews.com. Retrieved 20 September 2020.
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 30 November 2015. Retrieved 6 November 2015.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
- ^ Standing from left to right are: Gen. Colin L. Powell, USA (Ret); Gen. John W. Vessey, USA (Ret); Adm. Thomas H. Moorer, USN (Ret); Gen. Shelton, USA; Gen. David C. Jones, USAF (Ret); Adm. William J. Crowe, Jr., USN (Ret); and Gen. John M. Shalikashvili, USA (Ret).
General sources[]
- Department of Defense Directive 5100.1: Functions of the Department of Defense and Its Major Components (PDF). Department of Defense Directive. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Defense. 21 December 2010.
- "Department of Defense Directive 5100.01 Functions of the Department of Defense and Its Major Components". Office of the Secretary Defense, Director of Administration and Management, Directorate for Organizational & Management Planning. Archived from the original on 7 May 2013. Retrieved 13 June 2013.
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