The Joint Chiefs of Staff
The Joint Chiefs of Staff(JCS), who consist of the head, or chief of staff, of each military service and an additional high‐ranking officer from one of the services who serves as chair, function as the virtual high command of the U.S. armed forces, the key planning organization for and coordinating link between the services, and the foremost military advisers to the president, secretary of defense, National Security Council, and Congress. The organization was established informally during World War II and institutionalized by an act of Congress in 1947. It has been altered on numerous occasions since then, with the emergence of a powerful chairman and joint staff the most notable change.
The roots of the JCS date back to turn‐of‐the‐century managerial revolution in warfare that resulted in the establishment throughout the world of general staffs headed by chiefs of staff to plan for and command national...
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