Africa Command: Building a Foundation of Operational Interagency Cooperation
Abstract
Interagency cooperation has been a recognized deficiency for many years. The National Security Act of 1947 and the Goldwater-Nichols Act of 1986 helped to streamline military operations and chains of command; however, reform is still needed to affect similar change across the breadth of the Executive Branch. While this national debate is beyond the operational commander's ability to control, it often falls to regional combatant commanders, with the bulk of resources and personnel, to execute national policy decisions and integrate that execution with other Federal agencies. This paper defines the current policy decision-making process at the national level and identifies the deficiencies in translating those decisions into operational action. It identifies the U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) as a unique chance to improve interagency coordination at the operational level and recommends tasks -- command structure, leveraging expertise, and capturing best practices -- that AFRICOM needs to accomplish to improve interagency coordination. The paper also identifies challenges to operational interagency coordination, specifically, cultural, budgetary, and authoritative. Finally, the paper draws conclusions on the importance of effective interagency coordination for the future of operations in Africa as well as on a global scale.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 10, 2007
- Accession Number
- ADA470854
Entities
People
- Chad E. Piacenti
Organizations
- Naval War College