Has Goldwater-Nichols Improved the United States Military's Ability to Meet Strategic Objectives.

摘要

This paper begins with a brief review of the National Security Act of 1947 which established the present Department of Defense. It then reviews the more significant pieces of legislation which have shaped the present structure, and formed the command relationships in the United States military. The principal changes made to the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the combatant commands by the Goldwater-Nichols Act of 1986 are then reviewed. Following that is a discussion of how those changes have affected the United States military's capability to meet the United States' national strategic objectives. The analysis is made within the context of the conflict continuum and the strategic objectives that are to be achieved along that continuum. (aw)