JP 1, Doctrine for the Armed Forces of the United States - Defense ...

Chapter II
(1) The President of the United States is responsible to the American people for
national strategic direction.
(a) When the US undertakes military operations, the Armed Forces of the
United States are only one component of a national-level effort involving all instruments of
national power. Instilling unity of effort at the national level is necessarily a cooperative
endeavor involving a number of USG departments and agencies. In certain operations,
agencies of states, localities, or foreign countries may also be involved. The President
establishes guidelines for civil-military integration and disseminates decisions and monitors
execution through the NSC.
(b) Complex operations may require a high order of civil-military integration.
Presidential directives guide participation by all US civilian and military agencies in such
operations. Military leaders should work with the members of the national security team in
the most skilled, tactful, and persistent ways to promote unity of effort. Operations of
departments or agencies representing the diplomatic, economic, and informational
instruments of national power are not under command of the Armed Forces of the United
States or of any specific JFC. In US domestic situations, another department such as the
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) may assume overall control of interagency
coordination including military elements. Abroad, the chief of mission, supported by the
country team, is normally in control.
(2) SecDef is responsible to the President for creating, supporting, and employing
military capabilities. SecDef is the link between the President and the CCDRs, and provides
direction and control of the CCDRs as they conduct military activities and operations.
SecDef provides authoritative direction and control over the Services through the Secretaries
of the Military Departments. SecDef exercises control of and authority over those forces not
specifically assigned to the combatant commands (CCMDs) and administers this authority
through the Military Departments, the Service Chiefs, and applicable chains of command.
The Secretaries of the Military Departments organize, train, and equip forces and provide for
the administration and support of forces within their department, including those assigned or
attached to the CCDRs.
(3) The CJCS is the principal military advisor to the President, the NSC, and
SecDef and functions under the authority, direction, and control of the President and SecDef.
The CJCS assists the President and SecDef in providing for the strategic direction of the
Armed Forces. Communications between the President or SecDef and the CCDRs are
normally transmitted through the CJCS.
(4) CCDRs exercise combatant command (command authority) (COCOM) over
assigned forces and are responsible to the President and SecDef for the preparedness of their
commands and performance of assigned missions. GCCs have responsibility for a
geographic AOR assigned through the Unified Command Plan (UCP). The UCP establishes
CCMD missions and responsibilities, delineates the general geographical AOR for GCCs,
and provides the framework used to assign forces. Functional combatant commanders
(FCCs) have transregional responsibilities for assigned functions and support (or can be
supported by) GCCs or may conduct missions assigned by the UCP independently.
II-2 JP 1