page_title: Joint Chiefs of Staff
section_title: National Security Act of 1947
hierarchical_section_title: Joint Chiefs of Staff / History / National Security Act of 1947
caption_attribution_description: This is a group photograph of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and several combatant commanders taken on July 1, 1983, in the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff dining room, located in the Pentagon. Shows (left to right): Navy Adm. Wesley L. McDonald, Commander in Chief, US Atlantic Command; Marine Corps Gen. Paul X. Kelley, Commandant of the Marine Corps; Army Gen. Paul F. Gorman, Commander in Chief, US Southern Command; Army Lt. Gen. Robert C. Kingston, Commander in Chief, US Central Command; Army Gen. John A. Wickham, Chief of Staff, US Army; Army Gen. Wallace H. Nutting, Commander in Chief, US Readiness Command; Air Force Gen. James V. Hartinger, Commander in Chief, Aerospace Defense Command; Navy Adm. William J. Crowe, Commander in Chief, US Pacific Command; Air Force Gen. Charles A. Gabriel, Chief of Staff, U.S. Air Force; Army Gen. Bernard W. Rogers, Commander in Chief, US European Command; Army Gen. John W. Vessey Jr., Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Air Force Gen. Bennie L. Davis, Commander in Chief, US Strategic Air Command; Navy Adm. James D. Watkins, Chief of Naval Operations; Air Force Gen. Thomas M. Ryan Jr., Commander in Chief, Military Airlift Command.
context_page_description: The Joint Chiefs of Staff is the body of the most senior uniformed leaders within the United States Department of Defense, which advises the president of the United States, the secretary of defense, the Homeland Security Council and the National Security Council on military matters. The composition of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is defined by statute and consists of a chairman, a vice chairman, the service chiefs of the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and the chief of the National Guard Bureau. Each of the individual service chiefs, outside their JCS obligations, work directly under the secretaries of their respective military departments, e.g. the secretary of the Army, the secretary of the Navy, and the secretary of the Air Force.
  Following the Goldwater–Nichols Act in 1986, the Joint Chiefs of Staff do not have operational command authority, either individually or collectively, as the chain of command goes from the president to the secretary of defense, and from the secretary to the regional combatant commanders.
context_section_description: With the end of World War II, the Joint Chiefs of Staff was officially established under the National Security Act of 1947. Per the National Security Act, the JCS consisted of a chairman, the chief of staff of the Army, the chief of staff of the Air Force (which was established as a separate service by the same Act), and the chief of naval operations. The commandant of the Marine Corps was to be consulted on matters concerning the Corps, but was not a regular member; General Lemuel C. Shepherd, Jr., Commandant in 1952–55, was the first to sit as an occasional member. The law was amended during the term of General Louis H. Wilson, Jr. (1975–79), making the commandant a full-time JCS member in parity with the other three DoD services.
  The position of vice chairman was created by the Goldwater–Nichols Act of 1986 to complement the CJCS, as well as to delegate some of the chairman's responsibilities, particularly resource allocation through the Joint Requirements Oversight Council (JROC).
  General Colin L. Powell (1989–1993) was the first and, as of 2011, the only African American to serve on the Joint Chiefs of Staff. General Peter Pace (Vice Chairman 2001–2005; Chairman, 2005–2007) was the first Marine to serve in either position. No woman has ever served on the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
caption: The Joint Chiefs of Staff and several combatant commanders gathered at the Pentagon on 1 July 1983.
exif: {}