Season Two Research Files
Episode One
8:00am-9:00am
JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF
At the beginning of World War II, President Roosevelt created a committee of U.S. military staff commanders to coordinate operational strategy for the armed services. Along with their counterparts in Great Britain, these military leaders prepared and implemented strategy for the Allied forces. In 1947, the National Security Act formally established the Joint Chiefs of Staff in the United States, laying the foundation for a series of legislative and executive changes that have produced today's defense organization.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff consist of the chief of staff of the Army, the chief of Navy operations, the chief of staff of the Air Force, and the commandant of the Marine Corps, as well as an appointed chairman and vice chairman. The Joint Chiefs prepare military plans and direct unified and other combat commands under the Secretary of Defense, but they have no executive authority to commit combatant forces. Their responsibilities take precedence over their duties as the Chiefs of Military Services. The chairman serves as the principal military adviser to the President, the Secretary of Defense, and the National Security Council (NSC). All JCS members are, by law, military advisers, so they may respond to a request or voluntarily submit advice or opinions to the President, the Secretary of State, or the NSC. In addition to their responsibilities on the JCS, the military service chiefs are responsible to the secretaries of their military departments for management of the services. The service chiefs serve on the JCS for four years.
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