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...its allies the full spectrum options to respond to and deter terrorist and conventional threats. Is the Nation agile enough to respond globally, short of a major theater war? The operations conducted after September 11, 2001, in the Philippines and Central and Southwest Asia prove that we can respond, but are we postured to sustain this war and, at the same time, prepare for future conflicts? This article argues that an integrated civil-military combatant command is the model for the United States to deter and defeat adversaries and engage regional partners in the 21st century. Properly structured to include interagency representation, a combatant commander's headquarters and associated staff would provide the nucleus for interagency reorganization.
The Interagency Process
The Armed Forces routinely participate in interagency operations in the United States and abroad. Early inclusion of interagency considerations in military assessments, estimates, and plans would facilitate civil-military integration of effort. The interagency process in the United States, under the National Security Council, focuses on the appropriate functions for military and nonmilitary participants and facilitates unified action in pursuit of national objectives.
Deterrence and engagement are dynamic responsibilities tasked primarily to unified combatant commanders through the National Military Strategy and Joint Strategic Capabilities Plan. The Department of State, Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and other agencies are the key players; each can become lead Federal agencies in the
National Security Strategy (NSS). The single entity that coordinates these efforts is the National Security Council (NSC), the President's principal forum for considering national security and foreign policy matters with his senior national security advisors and cabinet officials. The NSC also serves as the President's principal arm for coordinating these policies among various government agencies. (1)
This 1949 construct may have been sufficient in the Cold War, but the 21st century requires greater agility to respond to both domestic and foreign threats. The NSC is the correct model for planning and assessing our national security strategy, but it is not optimized to coordinate and implement this strategy on a daily basis. General Peter Pace, USMC, as Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, pointed out that there was no one underneath the President who could follow through on decisions and order different agencies to accomplish what must be accomplished. He asked, "Do we then need a Goldwater-Nichols--like event for the interagency?" (2)
The success of the Goldwater-Nichols Department of Defense Reorganization Act of 1986 is evident when an empowered unified combatant command leads a coalition of over 40 countries in multiple regions executing the war on terror. The intent of the act has come to fruition in less than 20 years. In Iraq, for instance, "the capabilities and capacities of the U.S. military on that battlefield were finally the realization of the dream that was the Goldwater-Nichols Act." (3)
The U.S. Government is now ready to follow the DOD lead and embrace unifying legislation that extends this integration beyond the military. General Pace continues his challenge to the interagency through the lens of 30 years of observation: "In the 1980s, we had the best...
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