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
Incumbent General Joseph Dunford, USMC since October 1, 2015
Department of Defense The Joint Staff
Member of	Joint Chiefs of Staff
Reports to	The President Secretary of Defense
Seat	The Pentagon, Arlington County, Virginia, U.S.
Nominator	Secretary of Defense
Appointer	The President with Senate advice and consent
Term length	2 years Renewable
Constituting instrument	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 Omar Bradley
Deputy	Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Director of the Joint Staff
Website	www.JCS.mil

The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (CJCS) is the highest-ranking military officer in the United States Armed Forces and is the principal military advisor to the President, the National Security Council, the Homeland Security Council, and the Secretary of Defense. While the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff outranks all other commissioned officers, he is prohibited by law from having operational command authority over the Armed Forces; however, the Chairman is permitted to assist the President and the Secretary of Defense in exercising their command functions.

The Chairman convenes the meetings and coordinates the efforts of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), 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 Chief of Naval Operations, the Chief of Staff of the Air Force, the Commandant of the Marine Corps, and the Chief of the National Guard Bureau. 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 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).

Background

Role and functions

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 chain of command from the President to the Secretary of Defense directly to the commanders of the Unified Combatant Commands. 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 as well as allocate additional funding to the combatant commanders if necessary. He 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 name.

Department of Defense Directive 5100.01, issued by the Secretary of Defense, describes the organizational relationships within the Department of Defense (DoD), and is the principal directive for delineating the major functions of organizations and entities within the Department, including those of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and organizations under the Chairman.

Organization and assistants

The principal deputy to the Chairman is the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (VCJCS), another 4-star general or admiral, who among many duties chair 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 and Air Force, who have been assigned to assist the Chairman with the unified strategic direction, operation, and integration of the combatant land, naval, and air 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.

Historical

Fleet Admiral William D. Leahy, USN, served as the Chief of Staff to the Commander in Chief from July 20, 1942 to March 21, 1949. He presided over meetings of what was called the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Leahy's office was the precursor to the post of Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, created in 1942.

Appointment and rank

The Chairman is nominated by the President for appointment and must be confirmed via majority vote by the Senate. The Chairman and Vice Chairman may not be members of the same armed force service branch. 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. The Chairman serves a two-year term of office at the pleasure of the President, but can be reappointed to serve two additional terms for a total of six years, as long as the Chairman has not previously served a term as Vice Chairman, in which case the Chairman would be limited to serving up to two terms. However, in a time of war or national emergency, there is no limit to how many times an officer can be reappointed to serve as Chairman. Historically, the Chairman has served two terms. By statute, the Chairman is appointed as a four-star general or admiral while holding office and assumes office on October 1 of odd-numbered years.

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.

In the 1990s, there were proposals in U.S. Department of Defense academic circles to bestow on the office of Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff a five-star rank.

According to the 2015 Military Pay Table effective 1 January 2015, while serving as Chairman, Joint Chief of Staff/Vice Chairman, Joint Chief of Staff, Chief of Navy Operations, Commandant of the Marine Corps, Army/Air Force Chief of Staff, Commander of a unified or specified combatant command, basic pay is $21,147.30 monthly plus additional allowances. All pay for flag officers, however, is is limited by Level II of the Executive Schedule which is $15,125.10.

List of Chairmen

Chief of Staff to the Commander in Chief (historical predecessor office)

No.	Image	Name	Branch	Term of Office			Secretaries	President
				Began	Ended	Days of Service
1.		Fleet Admiral William D. Leahy	USN	July 20, 1942	March 21, 1949		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.	Image	Name	Branch	Term of Office			Secretaries	President
				Began	Ended	Days of Service
1.	File:General of the Army Omar Bradley.jpg	General of the Army Omar Bradley	USA	August 19, 1949	August 15, 1953		Louis A. Johnson George C. Marshall Robert A. Lovett Charles Erwin Wilson	Harry S. Truman Dwight D. Eisenhower
2.		Admiral Arthur W. Radford	USN	August 15, 1953	August 15, 1957		Charles Erwin Wilson	Dwight D. Eisenhower
3.		General Nathan F. Twining	USAF	August 15, 1957	September 30, 1960		Charles Erwin Wilson Neil H. McElroy Thomas S. Gates	Dwight D. Eisenhower
4.		General Lyman Lemnitzer	USA	October 1, 1960	September 30, 1962		Thomas S. Gates Robert S. McNamara	Dwight D. Eisenhower John F. Kennedy
5.		General Maxwell D. Taylor	USA	October 1, 1962	July 1, 1964		Robert S. McNamara	John F. Kennedy Lyndon B. Johnson
6.		General Earle Wheeler	USA	July 3, 1964	July 2, 1970		Robert S. McNamara Clark M. Clifford Melvin R. Laird	Lyndon B. Johnson Richard Nixon
7.		Admiral Thomas H. Moorer	USN	July 2, 1970	July 1, 1974		Melvin R. Laird Elliot Richardson James R. Schlesinger	Richard Nixon
8.		General George S. Brown	USAF	July 1, 1974	June 20, 1978		James R. Schlesinger Donald Rumsfeld Harold Brown	Richard Nixon Gerald Ford Jimmy Carter
9.		General David C. Jones	USAF	June 21, 1978	June 18, 1982		Harold Brown Caspar Weinberger	Jimmy Carter Ronald Reagan
10.		General John W. Vessey Jr.	USA	June 18, 1982	September 30, 1985		Caspar Weinberger	Ronald Reagan
11.		Admiral William J. Crowe, Jr.	USN	October 1, 1985	September 30, 1989		Caspar Weinberger Frank Carlucci Dick Cheney	Ronald Reagan George H.W. Bush
12.		General Colin Powell	USA	October 1, 1989	September 30, 1993		Dick Cheney Les Aspin	George H.W. Bush Bill Clinton
(acting)		Admiral David E. Jeremiah	USN	October 1, 1993	October 24, 1993		Les Aspin	Bill Clinton
13.		General John Shalikashvili	USA	October 25, 1993	September 30, 1997		Les Aspin William J. Perry William S. Cohen	Bill Clinton
14.		General Hugh Shelton	USA	October 1, 1997	September 30, 2001		William S. Cohen Donald Rumsfeld	Bill Clinton George W. Bush
15.		General Richard B. Myers	USAF	October 1, 2001	September 30, 2005		Donald Rumsfeld	George W. Bush
16.		General Peter Pace	USMC	October 1, 2005	September 30, 2007		Donald Rumsfeld Robert M. Gates	George W. Bush
17.		Admiral Michael Mullen	USN	October 1, 2007	September 30, 2011		Robert M. Gates Leon Panetta	George W. Bush Barack Obama
18.		General Martin Dempsey	USA	October 1, 2011	September 25, 2015		Leon Panetta Chuck Hagel Ashton Carter	Barack Obama
19.		General Joseph Dunford	USMC	October 1, 2015			Ashton Carter	Barack Obama

Chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff by branches of service

General Henry H. Shelton hosted on 1 December 2000 a conference in the Pentagon for former Chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. 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).

• Air Force - 4
• Army - 9
• Marine Corps - 2
• Navy - 4

See also

• Chief of Defence
  • Chief of the Defence Force
  • Chief of the Defence Staff
• List of United States Chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff by time in office
• National Command Authority
• National Military Strategy (United States)
• Single Integrated Operational Plan
• Unified Command Plan

External links

• Official Joint Chiefs of Staff site