Panel OKs More Power for Head of Joint Chiefs

The House Armed Services Committee voted 38-2 approval today of a bill expanding the power of the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff as a way to reform the Pentagon and end interservice rivalries.

The bill falls well short of a series of changes proposed two weeks ago by the staff of the Senate Armed Services Committee, which said the five-member Joint Chiefs unit should be eliminated.

“I believe we can take the chiefs and make reforms in the present structure rather than throwing the baby out with the bath water,” said Rep. Bill Nichols (D-Ala.), one of the measure’s chief sponsors.

Both proposals are aimed at overhauling the Joint Chiefs, the structure created by a 1947 law designed to modernize the U.S. defense establishment after World War II.

The chairman of the Joint Chiefs has little statutory power. But the other four members, who are the top officers of each service, have two roles--heading their individual services and sitting on the five-member board, which is supposed to resolve disputes.

In recent years, there have been numerous calls for reform amid complaints that the current system is too unwieldy and is so torn by interservice rivalries that it is ineffective and wastes money through duplication of weapons.

The House bill would designate the chairman as the principal military adviser to the President and would also give him total control of an expanded JCS staff, which is supposed to help him give better advice. It would also double his term in office from two to four years and create a deputy chairman.

By contrast, the Senate staff proposal would replace the Joint Chiefs with a five-member advisory board composed of senior military leaders who would be in their final tour of duty. The four top officers of each service would have no role on that board.