We Need More Than Just a Command Shakeup in the U.S. Military

"EXPERT OPINION - came out last week that claim the Chairman of Joint Staff, General Dan Caine, is preparing a new unified command plan (UCP) that will reorganize and consolidate the regional combatant commands. According to press reports, the proposal, which is to go to the Secretary and the President soon, would combine U.S. Central Command, U.S. European Command and U.S. Africa Command under a new U.S. International Command. U.S. Southern Command and U.S. Northern Command would be combined as U.S. Americas Command."

"However, to truly have the greatest effect, more needs to happen than just a reorganization and consolidation of combatant commands. The work to change and upgrade the combatant commands must be more consequential. For this to happen, these commands must have all the tools at their disposal to develop military relationships and oversee operations in their regions. To be most effective, that means that their intelligence and their interagency arms must be bolstered."

"On the intelligence side, Washington should push out the work to the combatant commands that the analysts, targeters and operators are doing in D.C. Before the early 2000s, the combatant commands hired their intelligence professionals through the services. In the early 2000s, the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) took over the requirement to integrate all the combatant commands' intelligence professionals and those professionals became DIA employees."

A proposed unified command plan would merge U.S. Central Command, U.S. European Command and U.S. Africa Command into a U.S. International Command, and combine U.S. Southern Command and U.S. Northern Command as U.S. Americas Command. Functional commands such as U.S. Cyber, Special Operations, Space, Strategic, Transportation and Indo Pacific Command would remain unchanged. Such consolidation would represent the largest command shakeup in decades. Reorganization alone would be insufficient; combatant commands must receive expanded authorities and resources to build military relationships and oversee regional operations. Intelligence and interagency capabilities at the combatant command level should be bolstered and more intelligence work pushed from Washington to the commands.

Read at The Cipher Brief