"Army Gen. Ray Odierno, JFCOM's commander, will lead an all-hands meeting at 1 p.m. today to discuss the command's future, according to an e-mail sent to JFCOM staff Tuesday."
SWJ will post updates as info becomes available.
Not much to update so far. The AP reports, via the Washington Post, that JFCOM cuts will include 2,300 in Virginia and more at several other locations. The hardest hit will be the defense contractor force, down to 500 from the current estimated 2,500 nationwide.
Update 2: Odierno Details Joint Forces Command Disestablishment Plans by Cheryl Pellerin of the American Forces Press Service.
... In the months ahead, streamlined relevant joint functions will be transferred to "appropriate Defense Department entities, mostly the Joint Staff," Odierno said. "We'll ensure that we sustain the momentum and gains in jointness while maintaining critical interaction with NATO, specifically Allied Command Transformation, and other multinational partners."
Allied Command Transformation, based in Norfolk, Va., is a NATO military command that provides the conceptual framework for conducting combined joint operations.
Odierno said he's required over the next 30 days to publish a detailed implementation plan and submit it to Gates.
"During this time," the general said, "I will continue to refine the details of this plan, and will continue to refine it as we begin execution of the plan."
A two-star general officer will lead the new organization from Norfolk-Suffolk as deputy director for operational plans and joint force development on the Joint Staff. Joint Forces Command will be disestablished as a four-star combatant command by the end of August, and all personnel moves will be complete by March 2012.
"Today we have 33 liaison officers as part of Joint Forces Command," Odierno said. "They will remain connected to the Joint Warfighting Center. We have requests for 17 other nations to join us here, and that will continue to be programmed."
The general said the command's outlying centers and agencies will be realigned and reduced for efficiency and assigned to other combatant commands. No physical moves are projected with the transfers.
These include the Joint Warfare Analysis Center in Dahlgren, Va.; the Personnel Recovery Agency in Fort Belvoir, Va.; the Joint Communications and Support Element at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Fla.; and the NATO School in Germany.
Joint Forces Command service components include Fleet Forces Command, Air Combat Command, Marine Forces Command and Army Forces Command, Odierno said, and each will revert to their respective service's control Aug. 1.
The reorganized command will retain 51 percent of its Virginia work force, which will be reduced from about 4,700 people to 2,425. In the Norfolk-Suffolk area, the work force will drop to 1,900 from 3,800 people, and from 21 buildings to four...