DOD’s Unified Command Plan sets forth basic guidance to all combatant commanders and establishes the missions, responsibilities, and areas of geographic responsibility among all the combatant commands. There are currently nine combatant commands—six geographic and three functional. The six geographic combatant commands have responsibilities for accomplishing military operations in defined areas of operation and have a distinct regional military focus. The three functional combatant commands operate worldwide across geographic boundaries and provide unique capabilities to the geographic combatant commands and the military services. In addition, each combatant command is supported by multiple service component commands that help provide and coordinate service-specific forces, such as units, detachments, organizations, and installations, to help fulfill the combatant commands’ current and future operational requirements. Figure 1 is a map of the headquarters locations of the functional combatant commands, to include their subordinate unified commands and their respective service component commands. Unless otherwise directed by the President or the Secretary of Defense, the combatant commanders organize the structure of their commands as they deem necessary to carry out assigned missions. The commands’ structure may include a principal staff officer; personal staff to the commander; a special staff group for technical, administrative, or tactical advice; and other staff groups that are responsible for managing personnel, ensuring the availability of intelligence, directing operations, coordinating logistics, preparing long-range or future plans, and integrating communications systems. The commands may also have liaisons or representatives from other DOD agencies and U.S. government organizations integrated into their staffs to help enhance the commands’ effectiveness in accomplishing their missions. While the commands generally conform to these organizational principles, there may be variations in a command’s structure based on its unique mission areas and responsibilities. Joint Publication 1, Doctrine for the Armed Forces of the United States. permanent authorized positions for military, civilian, and other personnel responsible for managing the day-to-day operations of the command. Title 10 of the U.S. Code assigns the Secretaries of the military departments responsibility for a variety of tasks specific to their respective forces, to include organizing, equipping, and training tasks. In addition to these service-specific tasks, Title 10 of the U.S. Code also assigns the Secretaries of the military departments responsibility for assisting the combatant commands, to include responsibility for assigning all forces under their jurisdiction to the combatant commands to perform missions assigned to those commands and responsibility for carrying out functions to fulfill current and future operational requirements of the combatant commands. In addition to service-specific tasks, DOD Directive 5100.03, Support of the Headquarters of Combatant and Subordinate Unified Commands, states that the military departments—as combatant command support agents—are responsible for programming, budgeting, and funding the administrative and logistical support of the headquarters of the combatant commands and subordinate unified commands. On an annual basis, each of the three military departments assess needs and develop a request for funding as part of their respective operation and maintenance budget justification to meet this requirement to support the combatant commands and subordinate unified commands. The directive assigns each military department responsibility for specific combatant commands and subordinate unified commands. As the combatant command support agent for the three functional combatant commands, the Air Force is responsible for allocating funding to combatant commands’ mission As areas, including the costs for civilian salaries, awards, and travel.such, the operating costs of these commands are generally subsumed within the Air Force’s budget and funded through operation and maintenance appropriations. Table 1 provides a listing of the functional combatant commands, their subordinate unified commands, and the military departments that support them. Some of the functional combatant commands also receive funding through appropriations other than operation and maintenance. Specifically, Title 10 of the U.S. Code gives the Commander, Special Operations Command, the authority to prepare and submit to the Secretary of Defense program recommendations and budget proposals for special operations forces and for other forces assigned to SOCOM through a separate major force program category. In addition, funding for TRANSCOM’s costs to support headquarters operations comes primarily from the Air Force’s Transportation Working Capital Fund, which is part of the Air Force Working Capital Fund. Unlike the other combatant commands, TRANSCOM is operated in a fee-for-service manner and charges its customers for transportation services. TRANSCOM and its service component commands bill the customers for services rendered, customers transfer funds into the Transportation Working Capital Fund to pay the bill, and TRANSCOM and its service component commands receive payment from the Transportation Working Capital Fund. Officials noted that one component of these transportation costs is overhead, to include pay for civilian personnel, material and supplies, equipment, travel, and facility operations. Our analysis shows that the functional combatant commands’ number of authorized positions has substantially increased since fiscal year 2004 primarily due to added missions and responsibilities. Taken together, the authorized number of military and civilian positions for the three functional combatant commands almost doubled from 5,731 in fiscal year 2004 to 10,515 in fiscal year 2013. All three functional combatant commands’ number of authorized positions grew. SOCOM’s authorized military and civilian positions more than doubled from 1,885 in fiscal year 2004 to 4,093 in fiscal year 2013. According to SOCOM officials, an increase in authorized positions at the Special Operations Research, Development, and Acquisition Center and the Joint Special Operations Command contributed to the growth at the command. TRANSCOM’s number of authorized military and civilian positions more than doubled from 863 in fiscal year 2004 to 1,956 in fiscal year 2013. According to TRANSCOM officials, the realignment of the Defense Courier Service from Air Mobility Command to TRANSCOM and the Joint Enabling Capabilities Command from the Joint Staff to TRANSCOM were the primary contributors to the increase in authorized positions at the command. STRATCOM’s authorized military and civilian positions increased by 50 percent from 2,983 in fiscal year 2004 to 4,466 in fiscal year 2013. During this period, the creation of new organizations at STRATCOM to fill additional mission requirements, including Joint Functional Component Commands (Integrated Missile Defense; Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance; Global Strike; and Space), two Centers (U.S. Strategic Command Center for Combating Weapons of Mass Destruction and the Joint Warfare Analysis Center), and a subordinate unified command (United States Cyber Command), were the primary contributors to the increase in authorized positions at the command. Figure 2 shows the number of authorized military and civilian positions at the functional combatant commands. As with our findings in our May 2013 report on the geographic combatant commands, we found that, over time, the functional combatant commands have become more reliant on civilian personnel to meet their mission needs.civilian positions at the functional combatant commands almost tripled— from about 1,900 in fiscal year 2004 to about 5,200 in fiscal year 2013. According to DOD officials, the increase in authorized civilian positions is the result of attempts to rebalance workload and become a cost-efficient workforce, namely by converting positions filled by military personnel or in-sourcing services performed by contractors to civilian positions, and adding civilians in specific functional areas, such as intelligence and Specifically, we found that the number of authorized cyber, to support warfighter needs.authorized civilian positions at the functional combatant commands increased from about one-third of authorized positions in 2001 to about half in 2013. However, the functional combatant commands also increased the number of military personnel to support the headquarters. This is reflected in our analysis, which shows that from fiscal years 2004 through 2013 the number of authorized military positions also increased, by about 40 percent, from 3,850 to more than 5,300. Figure 3 shows changes in the functional combatant commands’ number of authorized military and civilian positions from fiscal years 2004 through 2013. Our analysis of data provided by the service component commands of the functional combatant commands showed that the service component command positions also increased, although not as much as in the functional combatant commands that they support. Specifically, total authorized military and civilian positions for the service component commands increased from about 6,675 in fiscal year 2002 to about 7,815 in fiscal year 2013. Changes in the authorized military and civilian positions at STRATCOM’s and SOCOM’s service component commands, as well as the establishment of new commands, drove the overall increase in total authorized positions, while the service component commands supporting TRANSCOM reduced their total authorized positions over the period. Among the military services, the Air Force’s service component commands saw the greatest increase in authorized positions, accounting for more than two thirds of the total increase in authorized military and civilian positions. This increase is primarily attributable to the establishment of Air Force Global Strike Command—a service component command to STRATCOM—which was activated in fiscal year 2009 to develop and provide combat-ready forces for nuclear deterrence and global strike operations, and is responsible for the nation’s intercontinental ballistic missile wings. The creation of Air Force Global Strike Command added over 330 additional military positions in fiscal year 2010. Figure 4 shows the increase in authorized positions at the service component commands that we reviewed. We found that the service component commands’ authorized military and civilian mix has changed slightly since fiscal year 2002. In fiscal year 2002 the mix was 55 percent civilian and 45 percent military, and in fiscal year 2013 the mix was about 60 percent civilian and 40 percent military. The availability of data on contractor full-time equivalents varied across the combatant commands, and thus trends in full-time equivalents were DOD officials stated the department generally tracks not identifiable.and reports expenditures for contract services, and that the combatant commands were not required to maintain historical data on the number of contractor personnel. As a result, we found that the combatant commands had taken varied steps to collect data on contractor full-time equivalents.