As part of the Defense Department’s effort to reduce costs, U.S. Joint Forces Command (JFCOM) yesterday was formally “disestablished,” though the work continues in other venues.
Created in 1999 to improve how the services and their equipment worked together, as well as with allies and partners, JFCOM Commanding General Raymond Odierno said yesterday at Suffolk, Va., ceremonies that the work had progressed far enough so that it no longer required a separate four-star command.
As one of 10 full combatant commands, JFCOM had nearly 6,000 direct and indirect employees and annual salaries of more than $200 million. The decision to close the command was the largest single cut unveiled by then-Defense Secretary Robert Gates a little more than a year ago (Defense Daily, Aug. 10).
Odierno said, “We are not walking away from jointness, but we are adapting to a new reality.”
Rather, consider the change a new beginning, he said, continually striving for greater effectiveness and efficiency in the joint force.
The point continues to be benefiting warfighting commanders, Odierno said.
Joint doctrine development, training and modeling and simulation will remain in the Norfolk area, while many other areas of the command have moved to other organizations or been consolidated under the Joint Staff. Other activities, for example the Joint Warfighting Center, Joint Center for Operational Analysis and the Joint Concept Development and Experimentation Directorate merged and moved to J7, the Joint Staff, and will remain in Suffolk, Va. The NATO School in Germany, transitioned to U.S. European Command (USEUCOM) as part of the functional realignments aimed at greater efficiency.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen said closing the command was in the nation’s interest in a period when the national debt is the greatest national security threat.
Mullen pinned the Defense Distinguished Service Medal on Odierno for his service in shuttering the command. Odierno, who arrived at JFCOM after commanding U.S. Forces in Iraq, now heads North to prepare for his new position as Army Chief of Staff, replacing Gen. Martin Dempsey who will take over for Mullen, when he retires this fall.