Please read my post over. The Department of Defense is the ADMINISTRATIVE function of the military...and yes SecDef does excersize control of the administration of the military, but not the OPERATION COMMAND AND CONTROL which is the Defense Department...a different chain, outsiders are often puzzeled and think DoD and the Defense Department are one and the same.
Nope. With all due respect, I assure you I have the competence to fully understand what you suggest above. I just think the concept is,as some might say, "not entirely accurate."
The Secretary of Defense official duties are not limited only to administrative functions...
If you read my post you would see that it took 5 days of schooling (and about six months ojt) for me to understand the organization. There is no textbook.
Hopefully this link will help. The solid flowchart lines are the administrative control, the dashes are the Operational control.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:US_National_Command.png
Let me try to give an example of the way this works
President Orders "Bomb Bagdad" ...orders are sent to the Operational Chain thu JCS to the Joint Commander. JCS develops the plan to bomb using an aircraft carrier in conjunction with the Joint commander and goes up thru the administrative chain to SecDef requesting additional aircraft parts and 500,000 gals of avgas to support the operation. JCS member CNO (Chief of Naval Operations) orders the USS Neversail into position in the Persian Gulf. SecDef orders Navairsyscom to supply the parts and Navalex (logistics command) to supply the gasoline and provides funding for each organization. Field Commander decides he needs additional troops for mop up operations so he goes up his administrative chain to SecDef who orders NavPers to transfer 500 marines from Quantico to the "theater of operations" SecDef simultaneously orders Bupers to activate 500 Marine
reserves to backfill Quantico's losses. and then orders Transport Command to Fly the Marines to the theater...have I lost you yet?
No, you didn't lose me. Again, I fully understand what you suggest...
As I said in my earlier post there have been attempts by SecDef ( noteably Rumsfeld)to increase authority and gain more power thru administrative directive....but the chart shows how the law has it set up. Current law prohibits either the SecDef or the Chairman JCS from having executive (operational) control over the combatant forces, hypothetically, this helps to prevent a military takeover of the US Government. That's why only the President can issue orders directly to the operatiional forces, but they go "through" the SecDef or The JCS. Policy and Command Control are two different things. Example of Policy: Don't fire until fired upon.
Interestingly, after extensive searching, I have been unable to find ANY
official source that lends credence to the concept you espouse. On the other hand, my research did turn up a slew of references -- including official United States Department of Defense sources -- and charts that show the Secretary of Defense is indeed included in the operational chain of command.
To cite just one example:
THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE
"
The Department of Defense (DoD) (DoD Directive 5100.1) is responsible for providing the military forces needed to deter war and protect the security of the United States. The major elements of these forces are the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps. Under the President, who is also Commander-in-Chief, the Secretary of Defense exercises authority, direction, and control over the Department which includes the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, three Military Departments, nine Unified Combatant Commands, the DoD Inspector General, fifteen Defense Agencies, and seven DoD Field Activities. (See DoD chart.)"
"The Secretary of Defense is the principal defense policy advisor to the President and is responsible for the formulation of general defense policy and policy related to all matters of direct and primary concern to the DoD, and for the execution of approved policy.
Under the direction of the President, the Secretary exercises authority, direction, and control over the Department of Defense."
-http://www.defenselink.mil/odam/omp/pubs/GuideBook/DoD.htm
The wikipedia source you cite above hardly provides a clear depiction of the process. It easily subject to differing interpretations. And, of course, it is certainly not official. As someone who has developed many org charts (and reorganized a number of large-scale military functions), please be assured I fully grasp the chain of command flow. It might also be noted that many believe that the so-called "dotted-line authority" is a sign of a compromised (or weak) organizational concept.
In any case, do you have ANY -- just one -- OFFICIAL United States / Military / SecDef / Defense Department / DOD source that supports this, umm, interesting view [that the President issues orders
directly
to the JCS and/or Unified Commands?
For further United States Law regarding all of this, careful review of the Goldwater-Nichols Act might be instructive.
"
By the Goldwater-Nichols DOD Reorganization Act of 1986, Congress clarified the command line to the combatant commanders and preserve civilian control of the military. The Act states that the operational chain of command runs from the President to the Secretary of Defense to the combatant commanders."
Another thought just occurred to me: when exactly did you go through this five-day course? Maybe this difference all has to do with timing and changes in the law defining how things are organized.
Perhaps, too, we are getting a bit tangled up with the words "through" and "to." My primary thrust was that the Secretary of Defense is not, in fact,
bypassed even in operational matters -- which is what I understood you to be saying...
