Interagency Reform
Interagency Reform
by Major Christopher Smith, Small Wars Journal
Interagency Reform (Full PDF Article)
After many years of in-depth studies and comprehensive proposals on how to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the interagency, the time has come to pass legislation that would direct significant interagency reform in an effort to effectively organize the U.S. government for national security. The model for such reform is found in the 1986 Goldwater-Nichols (G-N) Act which led to significant improvements in an organization that had suffered from poor coordination, communication, and execution of joint operations undertaken in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Similar legislation is necessary to reform various government agencies as was the case with G-N and the military services. It is widely accepted that without that legislation, the military, especially the Navy and Marine Corps, would not have carried out the reforms. Likewise, many experts believe that reforms to the interagency can be carried out only by firm legislation.
Interagency Reform (Full PDF Article)
House Armed Services Committee Chairman Ike Skelton was a big player in the development and passage of Goldwater-Nichols, as well as the modern JPME system. If you want to see what happens with interagency reform in Congress, keep an eye on him. Last year he appeared to have empowered the Oversight and Investigations subcommittee, chaired by Rep. Vic Snyder, to do work on the issue, starting with a study of Provincial Reconstruction Teams and leading up to a full committee hearing on Building Partnership Capacity and the Interagency Process with Sec. Gates and Rice as witnesses (http://devilanddevelopment.blogspot.com/2008/11/secretary-gates-and-secretary-rice.html).
Ultimately these projects, and leadership from Chairman Berman (Foreign Affairs) and Chairwoman Lowey (State and Foreign Ops Approps) and Rep. Farr led to the inclusion of the authorization of S/CRS and Civilian Response Corps in the FY09 National Defense Authorization Act, added as an amendment by Rep. Vic Snyder (D-AR).
For some other thoughts on interagency reform:
http://devilanddevelopment.blogspot.com/search/label/interagency
Also see:
http://armedservices.house.gov/comdocs/schedules/2008.shtml
(ctrl F “interagency”, “Building Partnership Capacity” and “irregular”)
and
http://armedservices.house.gov/pdfs/Reports/PRT_Report.pdf
http://armedservices.house.gov/pdfs/Reports/LanguageCultureReportNov08.pdf
MAJ Smith – Did you look at any of the work already done by the Project for National Security Reform? (PNSR)
Recently the PNSR finished a Congressional funded study that looked at how to modernize and improve the U.S. national security system.
I highly recommend reading the executive summary in their final report: Forging a New Shield
One of our faculty members also blogged about this at Forging a New Shield: Massive Changes to the National Security System
Several key members from the PNSR staff now hold high level positions within President Obama’s Administration:
James B. Steinberg – Deputy Secretary of State.
Admiral Dennis C. Blair – Director of National Intelligence
General James L. Jones – National Security Advisor
Michele Flournoy – Under Secretary of Defense for Policy
There have been numerous reports that Jones is radically revamping the NSC, as reported by The Washington Post in Obama’s NSC Will Get New Power
With the changes in the NSC, and the influence from the former PNSR staffers, we may see some Beyond Goldwater-Nichols type of legislation introduced sometime soon.