Organizing to Fight: Goldwater-Nichols and the Military Strategist

Abstract

The way we organize our defense establishment is a crucial part of our national strategy, directly affecting our ability to wage war. Perceptions of a dangerous decline in our nation's ability to wage war ultimately led to the passage of the Goldwater-Nichols Defense Reorganization Act of 1986. That legislation focused almost completely on how we organize to fight. The history of the American defense establishment provides a back-drop for the Goldwater-Nichols Act, and reveals general trends that may be appreciated and exploited by the contemporary strategist. The mechanics of how the intent of reorganization advocates was codified into law points to the most probable skills required for a future military strategist to pursue successful reorganization. Careful analysis of the GNA story points out some important aspects of its effect on the American military strategic culture. Not only did the resulting legislation have lasting effects on our military strategy, it produced real results in terms of our war winning capability in conflicts around the globe. In addition, the very process of creating and advocating the Goldwater-Nichols Act spotlighted particular skills required of the military strategist when pursuing such large bureaucratic change and revealed key considerations for internal military strategic review. What the military strategist of today may not realize is that he or she can be central to such a reorganizational process. Perhaps the most important utility of this analysis will be its applicability to the next major defense reorganization. With that in mind, it is incumbent on the military strategist of the new millennium to continue to question the status quo organization, while evaluating that organization against time-tested principles of military effectiveness.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
May 01, 1997
Accession Number
ADA391937

Entities

People

  • J. S. Chesnut

Organizations

  • Air University

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical
  • C4I
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Human Systems
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Aircrafts
  • Business Administration
  • Contingency Operations (Military)
  • Department Of Defense
  • Governments
  • Law
  • Military Operations
  • Military Organizations
  • Military Science
  • National Security
  • Navy
  • Organizational Structure
  • Second World War
  • United States
  • War Colleges
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Joint Military Operations and Doctrine.
  • Military History of the United States in the 20th Century.