Joint Education: Where It Really Should Begin
Abstract
The 1986 Goldwater-Nichols Department of Defense Reorganization Act mandated sweeping reforms to the professional military education system. In particular, the law called for the creation of joint specialty officers, and gave the Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff, authority to formulate policy in the military education system in order to produce officers competent in joint matters. Thus far, the focus of the changes have been at the intermediate and senior service schools. The Chairman has issued clear objectives for joint education curricula, and each of the programs must be periodically accredited. However, very little guidance has been given to the precommissioning schools, and their joint programs are not formally reviewed by the JCS. As a result, the variety and depth of joint curricula varies considerably between the service academies and ROTC units. In the author's opinion, officers are graduating with differing perspectives and levels of understanding about joint matters. However, the military is changing and young officers are being exposed to the joint environment earlier in their careers through consolidation of DoD organizations, training exercises and real world contingencies. This paper presents several arguments why joint education should be improved for officer candidates, and recommends that precommissioning schools become full,fledged partners in the joint education process by implementing common learning objectives and submitting their curricula to periodic JCS review.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Apr 05, 1993
- Accession Number
- ADA264041
Entities
People
- Stephen J. Miller
Organizations
- United States Army War College