Getting Strategy Right

[Ken White]

Not a wet blanket but you have done one thing -- illustrated how the sclerotic bureaucracy has taken charge of DoD. Good job.

To address with full specificity is beyond my capability right now but quickly, I for one would not advise doing away with DoD or even trying to do so. It was IMO misguided but it's probably irreversible. That does not mean the organization and structure cannot be tweaked and significantly reduced in bureaucratic reach. Specifically, it needs to butt out of service personnel matters (that will offend Congress, who likes the nominal but really delusional linearity and uniformity -- 'fairness.') That will be difficult due to Congressional interest but a good case can be made for some special concern and disregard of 'American values.'

Any reorganization of DoD will be admittedly difficult as it will trample on several Congressional Rice Bowls -- as they are a significant part of the problem, I believe those Bowls should be smashed...

Difficult is not impossible.

The only problem with G-N is adjusting the duties and responsibilities, a relatively minor tweak to the Statute and job security for the OLRC. Most significant would be giving the CJCS a new title -- say, Director of Military Operations -- and real command authority UNDER the SecDef and the CinC of Cincs. It would mean tabbing strategic planning responsibility to the JCS with a diktat to do broad plans and policy while leaving the details not to the GCCs but to the actual, not supposed warfighting commands. The GCCs are really political and are going to stay that way...

Consider the fact that two CentCom Commanders got involved in warfighting, the first successfully (with a lot of help...) the second not so much -- but that both were while so involved NOT watching their 'theaters.' The GCCs need the ability to form large JTFs to do the actual fighting -- and they need to be able to get specific competencies for the Commanders of those Forces. The recent history of Iraq might have been quite different had Dan McNeill been in charge in Baghdad instead of Rick Sanchez...

As for the DoD Policies and the Joint Pubs, those get routinely revised in all cases; we could just do substantive modifications instead of cosmetic changes of "glad" to "happy."

The current structures were designed to ameliorate responsibility and decentralize planning and execution. The first part is successful beyond anyone's dreams, the second has not been really even marginally, much less successfully achieved...