Council itself, minus the President. The IG's were to establish fulltime working groups to deal with specific contingencies in order to provide support to the NSC's crisis management operations. 3. Defense Department Participation in the NSC Interagency System The Secretary of Defense is the senior statutory representative of DoD on the National Security Council. In the Presidential statement governing the organization and structure of the NSC in the Reagan Administration, he is referred to as the President's "principal defense policy advisor," and, in that role, is responsible for the formulation of "policy related to all matters of direct and primary concern" to DoD and "for execution of approved policy." He is also charged with the overall direction, coordination, and supervision of interdepartmental activities incident to defense policy formulation and for preparation of papers addressing U.S. defense policy matters for NSC consideration. The Joint Chiefs of Staff are the principal military-as opposed to broader defense policy -advisors to the President, the Secretary of Defense, and the National Security Council. As noted above, the Chairman of the JCS or his representative sits in a military advisory capacity on all Senior Interdepartmental and Interagency Groups. One of the three Senior Interdepartmental Groups established by the Reagan Administration was a Senior Interdepartmental GroupDefense Policy (SIG-DP) to assist the NSC in exercising its authority and discharging its responsibilities for defense policy and defense matters. The SIG-DP chairman is the Deputy Secretary of Defense and its permanent secretariat is comprised primarily of DoD personnel. Under the SIG-DP, Interagency Groups were formed for each of the functional areas within DoD. Each IG was to be chaired by the appropriate Under or Assistant Secretary of Defense and composed of representatives of the Secretary of State, the Director of Central Intelligence, the National Security Assistant, and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Provisions were also made for representation by additional departments at the invitation of the IG Chair man. The chairmen of the DoD IG's (the Under and Assistant Secretaries of Defense) were charged with assuring the "adequacy" of United States policy in their areas of responsibility and the plans, programs, and resources necessary for implementing that policy. They were also charged with conducting interagency policy studies within their areas of responsibility for consideration by the Defense Policy SIG. Because of recent developments in the Caribbean and the Middle East, the regional IG's under the State Department-chaired Foreign Policy SIG were assigned the preparation of contingency plans for potential crises within their areas of responsibility. Contingency planning was to be conducted in coordination with the chairman of the State Department's Political-Military IG, except for options for employment of military forces in potential crises, which were to remain within the purview of DoD and, in particular, the JCS. As may be apparent from this discussion, present and past DoD officials and personnel are found throughout the various components of the NSC interagency system, especially under the Reagan Administration. They participate in three different ways -as representatives of the Defense Department, as NSC officials or staff (on detail from DoD), or as civilians retired (often recently) from military careers. F. THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE The major organizational elements of the Department of Defense and their responsibilities are presented in this section. Chart 1-1 shows the relationships of these major organizations. Under the President, who is also Commander-in-Chief, the Secretary of Defense exercises direction, authority, and control over the Department of Defense. The Department includes the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Organization of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, three Military Departments, ten unified and specified commands, fifteen Defense Agencies, and eight DoD Field Activities. 1. Office of the Secretary of Defense The Office of the Secretary of Defense is the principal staff of the Secretary in the exercise of policy development, planning, resource management, and fiscal and program evaluation responsibilities. OSD includes the immediate offices of the Secretary and Deputy Secretary of Defense, Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, Assistant Secretaries of Defense, General Counsel, Assistants to the Secretary of Defense, and such other staff offices as the Secretary establishes to assist in carrying out his responsibilities. 2. Organization of the Joint Chiefs of Staff The Joint Chiefs of Staff are the principal military advisors to the Secretary of Defense as well as to the President and the National Security Council. Members of the JCS, other than the Chairman, are the senior military officers of their respective Services and are responsible for keeping the Secretaries of the Military Departments fully informed on matters considered or acted upon by the Joint Chiefs of Staff. 3. Military Departments The Military Departments are the Departments of the Army, Navy, and Air Force. (The Marine Corps is a part of the Department of the Navy.) Each Military Department is separately organized under its own Secretary but functions under the overall direction, authority, and control of the Secretary of Defense. The Military Departments are responsible for organizing, training, supplying, and equipping forces for assignment to unified and specified commands. 4. Armed Forces Policy Council The Armed Forces Policy Council (AFPC) advises the Secretary of Defense on matters of broad policy relating to the armed forces and any other matters that the Secretary may direct. Its members report regularly on important matters under their cognizance which are of interest to the Department of Defense. In addition to members identified below, other officials of the Department of Defense and other departments and agencies in the Executive Branch may be invited by the Secretary of Defense to attend appropriate meetings of the AFPC. The Council's membership is as follows: • Secretary of Defense (Chairman) • Deputy Secretary of Defense • Secretaries of the Military Departments • Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff • Under Secretaries of Defense • Chief of Staff, Army o Chief of Naval Operations • Chief of Staff, Air Force • Commandant, Marine Corps 5. Unified and Specified Commands The unified and specified commands are responsible to the President and the Secretary of Defense for the accomplishment of the military missions assigned to them. Combatant units of the Military Departments are assigned to and under the operational command of Commanders-in-Chief (CINC's) of unified and specified commands. Unified commands are composed of components of two or more Services. They include the European Command, Pacific Command, Atlantic Command, Southern Command, Readiness Command, and Central Command. In addition, the President has approved the establishment of a new unified command for space. Specified commands are usually composed of forces from one Service, but may include units and have representation from other Services. They include the Aerospace Defense Command, Strategic Air Command, and Military Airlift Command. The military chain of command runs from the President to the Secretary of Defense and, through the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to the Commanders of the unified and specified commands. Orders to these Commanders are issued by the President, the Secretary of Defense, or the Joint Chiefs of Staff by authority and direction of the Secretary of Defense. 6. Defense Agencies The Defense Agencies, authorized by the Secretary of Defense pursuant to the provisions of title 10, United States Code, perform selected support and service functions on a Department-wide basis. There are 15 Defense Agencies that report to the Office of the Secretary of Defense. |