An interview with James G. Stavridis

Joint Force Quarterly, July, 2008 by David H. Gurney

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JFQ: Many elements of the much-heralded reorganization of U.S. Southern Command Headquarters seem to have close parallels in the Cooperative Strategy for 21st Century Seapower. In fact, the majority of the issues addressed in the new naval strategy strike readers as the traditional focus areas of your command. Is there a relationship between these two developments?

Admiral Stavridis: First, I would argue that there is great momentum across the entire Department of Defense [DOD] to confront today's diverse security challenges through integration and coordination of efforts-be they military, interagency, multinational, or private sector efforts. The Cooperative Strategy for 21st Century Seapower is just one of many parallel efforts. For the first time, we have integrated our maritime forces under a unified cooperative strategy-a strategy that recognizes not only the obvious benefits of an overarching maritime partnership for U.S. forces but also the important role of international partners in 21st-century security.

Second, the maritime strategy rightly emphasizes the need to foster and sustain these international partnerships over time, building trust and capability for steady-state security cooperation as a matter of course, and the desire to respond together in the case of crisis. So it is no coincidence that the new maritime strategy runs in confluence with U.S. Southern Command's vision for the future of security in this part of the world. We clearly embrace the need to build the capability and capacity of our neighbors to address the difficult security challenges we share together. As for the maritime role in our hemisphere, a simple look at geography highlights the importance of the maritime domain, since all but two of the nations of the Americas have borders with access to the sea-with a significant portion of their population densities within 100 miles of the coast. A flexible, scalable, and persistent maritime engagement capability is a welcomed and essential part of our security cooperation toolset.

Third, as part of DOD transformation priorities, U.S. Southern Command is reorganizing to become more of an interagency operation. Our reorganization efforts include multinational and even limited private sector collaboration that will enhance our understanding of regional dynamics and magnify the benefits of our cooperation activities. Our new organizational structure and diverse representation will allow us to partner proactively with the U.S. Government interagency community and with the sovereign countries in the region-ultimately improving our collective response to regional and transnational security challenges. We lay out our approach in a document called "Command Strategy 2016," (1) which is well grounded not only in the Navy's future vision but also in that of the rest of the Services.

JFQ: Please address the most significant changes that will be effected in your command's reorganization and the contextual demands that inspired them.

Admiral Stavridis: The most significant change to our organization is a change in our cultural mindset. A reorganized structure is just one tool in our overall rethinking of U.S. Southern Command and its ultimate transformation for the future. This new thinking will take us from a culture of war to a culture of war and peace, from a culture of moving people and materiel to one of moving ideas. From a rigid, traditional staff structure (J1, J2, J3, and so forth) optimized purely for warfighting to new internal structures designed for integration, collaboration, and understanding-all designed to compete in today's instant strategic messaging market.

Now, changing mindsets is very difficult for any large, complex organization--perhaps it is even traumatic. As we proceed, we must respect and develop military Service cultures, shape and prepare our civilian workforce for new roles, convince our interagency partners of the benefit to their respective missions, and reassure our multinational partners of our continued commitment to partnering with them. Fortunately, U.S. Southern Command is well suited for this change.

As of this interview, we are already in our new provisional structure--a structure that is flatter and more responsive. We have a dual deputy-to-the-commander system, one military and one civilian. We are no longer organized in stovepiped J-codes, but now have six directorates--three mission directorates and three enabling or functional directorates. Interagency representatives are integrated throughout the new structure, their number and focus varying according to the function of the directorate, with many in key senior leadership roles. We have a fledgling partnering center, where international, academic, and private sector partners can plug into the organization's current operations and collaborate on mutually beneficial initiatives, programs, and exercises.

In concert with our reorganization, we have instituted a new method for strategic planning that allows us to widen our focus and enables cultural change. This strategic planning process is an integral component in the new organization and provides the corporate structure to focus all command activities, prioritize critical resource requirements, and measure progress toward achieving our mission.