Content provided in partnership with
Government Industry
Has it worked?: The Goldwater-Nichols reorganization act - Dept of Defense re-organization
Naval War College Review, Autumn, 2001 by James R. Locher, III
Tenth and last was the major problem of congressional micromanagement--even as seen from Capitol Hill. Congress was finding itself too often "in the weeds," immersed in details, not doing its job as the "board of directors," providing clear, but broad, strategic direction. Senator Nunn spoke of Congress's preoccupation with trivia: "Last year [1984], Congress changed the number of smoke grenade launchers and muzzle boresights the Army requested. We directed the Navy to pare back its request for parachute flares, practice bombs, and passenger vehicles. Congress specified that the Air Force should cut its request for garbage trucks, street cleaners, and scoop loaders. This is a bit ridiculous." (15)
- Most Popular Articles in News
- The Ten Best Laptop bags
- Tata plans cheapest-ever car for Indian market
- GLOBALIZATION AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF UNDERDEVELOPMENT OF THE THIRD WORLD
- Corn is good for you; Corn is not only a tasty treat, but also a cereal that ...
- THE 50 BEST STYLISH HANDBAGS TO CARRY
- More »
Striking the Balance
The overarching objective of Goldwater-Nichols as it was ultimately formulated was to balance joint and service interests. It was not to thwart service prerogatives; the services were and would remain the most important elements of the Department of Defense. They were, and are, the foundations on which everything else had to be constructed. To strike that balance, the drafters of the Goldwater-Nichols Act adopted nine objectives:
* Strengthen civilian authority
* Improve military advice to the president (in his constitutionally specified capacity as commander in chief of the armed forces), secretary of defense, and National Security Council
* Place clear responsibilities on the unified commanders in chief for mission accomplishment
* Ensure that a unified commander's authority is commensurate with his responsibilities
* Increase attention to strategy formulation and contingency planning
* Provide for the more efficient use of resources
* Improve joint officer management
* Enhance the effectiveness of military operations
* Improve Defense Department management and administration.
In the past, Congress had tried to limit the authority of the secretary of defense, because, as has been noted, its direct links with the services, and to the industries that served them, worked to the benefit of members of Congress in local politics. But in the report accompanying the Goldwater-Nichols Act, Congress finally declared: "The secretary of defense has sole and ultimate power within the Department of Defense on any matter on which the secretary chooses to act." (16) That is, no one in the Defense Department, civilian or military, possessed authority that was independent of the secretary. Eisenhower had decreed effectively the same thing in 1953, through an executive directive; only in 1986 was Congress prepared to legislate the point.
To strengthen further civilian authority, Goldwater-Nichols gave the secretary a powerful military ally in the JCS chairman. The chairman was freed from the necessity of negotiating with the service chiefs, and his institutional perspective was to be similar to that of the secretary. The 1986 legislation also specified the responsibilities of each service secretary to the defense secretary. Addressing civilian authority at the military department level, it clarified and strengthened the roles of each service secretary.
