"We need to clarify the role and authority of the chairman and, in some cases, the Joint Chiefs and the Joint Staff… to help synchronize resources globally for daily operations around the world," Carter stated in a speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
The new powers for the Joint Chiefs were needed to enhance the Department of Defense’s flexibility in moving its forces rapidly between combatant commands around the world, Carter noted.
"The chairman of the Joint Chiefs today advises the secretary of defense on where to move forces, what forces to move… He has to be the integrator and that is not explicitly written in Goldwater-Nicholls [Act]," Carter explained.
The 1986 Goldwater-Nicholls Act set up the current, relatively centralized US command structure so that the military branches could cooperate more effectively within unified regional commands covering different theaters of operations.
The chairman of the Joint Chiefs also should have the formal responsibility to advise the secretary of defense on military strategy and operational plans, looking across the different armed services and combatant commands to make objective recommendations to Defense Department civilian leaders, Carder added.
