Goldwater-Nichols Act

Act passed by the U.S. Congress in 1986 that is considered a milestone in the reform of the armed forces. Intended to improve some of the failures made evident by the Vietnam War and general shortcomings in communication, interservice rivalry, and unclear hierarchy, the Goldwater-Nichols Act aimed to transform the individual services (the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines) into joint institutions within the U.S. Department of Defense.

Before the implementation of the Goldwater-Nichols Act, the armed services often did not work jointly, and the Joint Chiefs of Staff worked as a mere corporate body that furnished the National Command Authority with collective guidance. Responding to this situation, the Goldwater-Nichols Act mandated greater cooperation and interoperability among the military's services. It strengthened the position of the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who assumed a near cabinet-level post as the chief military adviser to the president, the secretary of defense, and the National Security Council. It also created the position of vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs.

In an attempt to force the various services to work jointly, this landmark legislation created interservice operational commands such as the Special Forces Command, which unified all of the special forces units scattered throughout the military. Other articles of the act instituted policies aimed at developing officers with experience and education in more than one service. Along those lines, all officers with the rank of brigadier general or rear admiral must have served a joint duty assignment.

The reforms of the Goldwater-Nichols Act initially met with criticism from those in the military who wanted to keep the status quo and preserve the control of individual services over all of their assets. Now, however, most believe the act to be a resounding success. The United States now fights wars much more efficiently, with a chairman who truly oversees all of the services in times of conflict, backed up by unified and efficient operational commands. Some analysts, for example, feel that the changes brought about by the Goldwater-Nichols Act contributed greatly to the success of the United States during the first Gulf War. For the first time in a major conflict, the field commander had genuine control over the varied forces, as did the other interservice operational commands. In the aftermath of intelligence failures surrounding the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks against the United States, some have called for reform of the intelligence community based on the Goldwater-Nichols Act.