History - Joint Chiefs of Staff

1 History of theUnified Command Plan1946 2012 Edward J. DreaRonald H. ColeWalter S. PooleJames F. SchnabelRobert J. WatsonWillard J. WebbJoint History OfficeOffice of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of StaffWashington, DC 2013 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication DataDrea, Edward J., 1944- History of the Unified Command Plan 1946-2012 / Edward J. Drea, Ronald H. Cole, Walter S. Poole, James F. Schnabel, Robert J. Watson, Willard J. Webb. pages cm Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Military planning--United States-- History . 2. Unified operations (Military science)--United States-- History . 3. Operational art (Military science) 4. United States. Joint Chiefs of Staff -- History . 5. United States--Armed Forces--Organization-- History .

2 I. Cole, Ronald H., 1943- History of the Unified Command Plan 1946-1999. II. United States. Office of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff . Joint History Office. III. Title. 2013 3041097309045--dc23 2013011425iiiForewordFaced with the need to establish unified command of US military forces in peacetime, the Joint Chiefs of Staff in 1946 created an organizational directive, the Outline Command Plan, which was the first in a series of documents known as Unified Command Plans. Approved by the President, the Unified Command Plan prescribes high-level command arrangements for operational forces on a global basis; its structure and the organizational philosophies that structure represents have had a major impact on US military operations in the post-World War II era.

3 Thus, the History of the Unified Command Plan is a useful guide for those engaged in the development of current military policy and strategy as well as an important reference for students of US policy and strategy during the Cold History of the Unified Command Plan, 1946 2012, covers the formulation of the plan, modifica-tions, and periodic revisions. This volume includes four separate histories that were originally classified and an update covering the period from 1999 to 2012. The section describing the development of the Unified Command Plan between 1946 and 1977 was written by Dr. Robert J. Watson, Mr. James F. Schnabel, and Mr. Willard J. Webb and first published in declassified form in the late 1980s. The section covering the period from 1977 to 1983 was written by Dr.

4 Ronald H. Cole and published in a classified version in 1985. The two sections covering 1983 through 1999 were prepared by Dr. Walter S. Poole. Dr. Edward J. Drea prepared the Overview and the update covering 1999 to 2012. Ms. Penny Norman prepared the volume for volume was reviewed for declassification by the appropriate US government departments and agencies and cleared for release. Although the text has been declassified, some of the cited sources remain classified. This volume is an official publication of the Office of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff , but the views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position of the Chairman or of the Joint Chiefs of , DC John F. ShortalMarch 2013 BG, USA (Ret.)

5 Director for Joint HistoryvContentsOverview ..1 Part One 1946 1977 Origins in World War II ..9 The First Unified Command Plan, 1946 ..9 CINCFE, CINCPAC, CINCAL, CINCEUR ..11 CINCLANT ..11 Developments in 1948 ..12 Northeast Command ..12 Changes in the European Theater, 1949 1952 ..13 Clarifying Responsibilities, 1950 ..14 Command in the Far East during the Korean War.. 15 Interim Revision of the UCP, 1952 1953 ..161953 Change in the Executive Agent System ..16An Air Force Component for CINCPAC ..17 Continental Air Defense Command Established ..17 The Unified Command Plan, 1955 ..18 Changes in Terms of Reference for CONAD ..18 Reorganization in 1956: Abolition of CINCFE ..18 Establishment of CINCNORAD; Alteration of CINCONAD s Status ..20 Department of Defense Reorganization, 1958.

6 20 The Revised Unified Command Plan, 1961 ..21 Refining Mediterranean and Middle Eastern Responsibilities ..21 CINCLANT s Assumption of African Tasks ..22 Command Changes for Cuban Operations ..22 Strike Command Established ..23 Altered Arrangements for the Middle East and Africa ..24 CARIBCOM becomes USSOUTHCOM ..25 CONAD Assigned to Defend against Space Systems ..25 Command Relations in the Vietnam War ..25 Developments in the Late 1960s ..27 Blue Ribbon Panel Considers the Unified Command System ..27 The Unified Command Plan, 1971 ..281974 1975 Review ..30 Adjustment in the PACOM Boundary ..33 Designation of MAC as a Specified Command ..34viPart Two 1977 1983 Requirement for a Biennial Review ..37 Air Defense of the Panama Canal, 1978 ..37 Sub-Saharan Africa, 1976 1978.

7 38 Rapid Deployment Joint Task Force, 1977 1979 ..39 The Middle East and the First Biennial Review, 1980 ..40 The Caribbean Basin and the First Biennial Review, 1980 1981 ..42 The Transition from RDJTF to USCENTCOM, 1981 1982 ..44 The 1982 Biennial Review ..47 The New Unified Command Plan of 1983 ..51 Part Three 1983 1993 Setting Up US Space Command ..55 Readjusting for a Special Operations Command ..56 The Evolution of USTRANSCOM ..59 Debating Smaller Adjustments, 1983 1990 ..61 Adapting to a New World Order ..63 Strategic Command: An Easy Change ..64 Expanding the Atlantic Command ..66 Conclusion ..69 Part Four 1993 1999 Oiling the Machinery ..73 Emerging Issues: Homeland Defense and Information Warfare ..75 Part Five 1999 2012 The 2002 Unified Command Plan (UCP).

8 81 Service Reactions to OSD s 2002 UCP Proposals ..81 Changes to the 2002 UCP: Change-1 ..85 Changes to the 2002 UCP: Change-2 ..86 The 2004 UCP ..87 The Levant (Israel, Lebanon, and Syria) ..87 TRANSCOM ..88 The 2004 UCP Process ..88 SOCOM ..912004 UCP Change-1/UCP 2006: The Change-1 Proposal ..92 The 2008 UCP ..96 The 2011 UCP and Change-1 ..103viiAppendicesI. Dates Unified and Specified Commands Established ..113II. Unified Command Plans ..117 III. Chronological Listing of Presidents of the United States, Secretaries of Defense, and Chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff .. 119IV. Membership of the Joint Chiefs of Staff ..123V. Glossary of Abbreviations ..131 Notes ..141 Index ..1671 OverviewFollowing the experience of global warfare in World War II, the Services recognized the importance of unity of military effort achieved through the unified command of US forces.

9 Generally, over the next 50 years, the Unified Command Plan did adapt to the changing strategic environment and to great advances in technology, particularly the growing global reach of US forces. But there were failures, notably the cumbersome command organization for the Vietnam War. The recurring difficulty lay in creating an organizational scheme that would centralize control without impinging upon what the Services saw as their basic roles and functions. Much of the History of the Unified Command Plan (UCP) involves debates over how commands should be organized. Such disputes usually pitted those who wanted commands organized by geographic areas against those who advocated forming commands according to functional groupings of forces. Command by forces or functions seemed to restrict Service prerogatives, while command by areas appeared to preserve them.

10 The importance and intractability of this dispute is, perhaps, best demonstrated by tracing three particularly difficult sets of command arrangements, those for the Pacific Ocean and Far East, strategic nuclear forces, and general purpose forces based in the continental United 1945 and 1946, Pacific command organization became the main obstacle to completing an Outline Campaign Plan, the first version of the UCP. A line had to be drawn between a geographically organized Pacific Command (PACOM) and a Far East Command (FECOM) that was functionally organized for the occupation of Japan. The Army pushed for assigning command by forces or func-tions, a position based on its advocacy of a Department of Defense (DOD) under strong centralized direction.