View source for United States Joint Forces Command

{{Short description|Former U.S. Unified Combatant Command (1999–2011)}}
{{Use American English|date=March 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}}
{{Infobox military unit
|unit_name= United States Joint Forces Command (USJFCOM)
|image=USJFCOM SEAL.gif
|image_size=200px
|caption=[[Emblem]] of the United States Joint Forces Command
|dates= 1999–2011
|country= United States
|allegiance=
|branch=
|type= [[Unified Combatant Command]]
|role=
|size=At its height, 1.16&nbsp;million active and reserve soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines
|command_structure= [[United States Department of Defense]]
|garrison= [[Norfolk, Virginia]]
|garrison_label=Headquarters
|nickname=
|motto=
|colors=
|colors_label=
|march=
|mascot=
|equipment=
|equipment_label=
|battles=
|anniversaries=
|decorations=
|battle_honours=
<!-- Commanders -->
|commander1= Disestablished
|commander1_label= Combatant Commander
|commander2=
|commander2_label=
|notable_commanders=
<!-- Insignia -->
|identification_symbol= [[File:USJFCOM-USAE-SSI.jpg|80px]]
|identification_symbol_label= Shoulder sleeve insignia (U.S. Army only)
|identification_symbol_2= [[File:USJFCOM-USAE-DUI.jpg|80px]]
|identification_symbol_2_label= Distinctive unit insignia (U.S. Army only)
}}

The '''United States Joint Forces Command''' ('''USJFCOM''') was a [[Unified Combatant Command]] of the [[United States Department of Defense]].  USJFCOM was a functional command that provided specific services to the military. The last commander was Army Gen. [[Raymond T. Odierno|Ray Odierno]] and the Command Senior Enlisted was Marine Sergeant Major [[Bryan B. Battaglia]]. As directed by the President to identify opportunities to cut costs and rebalance priorities, [[Robert Gates|Defense Secretary Robert Gates]] recommended that USJFCOM be disestablished and its essential functions reassigned to other unified combatant commands.  Formal disestablishment occurred on 4 August 2011.

==History==
USJFCOM was formed in 1999 when the old [[United States Atlantic Command]] was renamed and given a new mission: leading the transformation of the Department of Defense through experimentation and education. USLANTCOM had been active from 1947 to 1993 as a primarily U.S. Navy command, focused upon the wartime defence of the Atlantic sea lanes against [[Soviet Union]] attack. After the end of the Cold War, a 1993 reorganization gave the Command a new acronym, USACOM, and brought [[United States Army Forces Command]] and [[Air Combat Command]] under its authority.<ref>[http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_pnav/is_199310/ai_996382191 Find Article: ''U.S. Atlantic Command, Now USACOM, Assumes New Role''] US Navy Press Releases {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080217071437/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_pnav/is_199310/ai_996382191 |date=17 February 2008 }}</ref>

In late 2004, U.S. Joint Forces Command assumed the role of primary conventional force provider in the Department of Defense. This landmark change assigned nearly all U.S. conventional forces to Joint Forces Command. Requirements, for example, for U.S. service personnel to support the transformation of the [[Armed Forces of Liberia]], were fed to JFCOM, in this case via [[United States Africa Command|Africa Command]], and JFCOM liaised with the service staffs to obtain available forces. Along with this responsibility came the task to develop a new 'risk-assessment' process that provided national leaders a worldwide perspective on force-sourcing solutions.{{citation needed|date=April 2016}}

Its operations and exercises included [[Noble Resolve]], an experimentation campaign plan to enhance homeland defense and improve military support to civil authorities in advance of and following natural and man-made disasters<ref>[http://www.jfcom.mil/about/experiments/nobleresolve.html USJFCOM information on Noble Resolve] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080417041620/http://www.jfcom.mil/about/experiments/nobleresolve.html |date=17 April 2008 }}</ref> and Empire Challenge, an annual intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) interoperability demonstration.<ref>[http://www.jfcom.mil/about/fact_ec09.html Empire Challenge 09] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110725001740/http://www.jfcom.mil/about/fact_ec09.html |date=25 July 2011 }}</ref>

===Mission===
United States Joint Forces Command was the only combatant command focused on the transformation of U.S. military capabilities.  The commander of USJFCOM oversaw the command's four primary roles in transformation – joint concept development and experimentation, joint training, joint interoperability and integration, and the primary conventional force provider as outlined in the [[Unified Command Plan]] approved by the [[President of the United States|President]].  Its Unified Command Plan designated USJFCOM as the "transformation laboratory" of the United States military to enhance the [[combatant commander]]s' capabilities to implement the president's strategy. USJFCOM developed joint operational concepts, tested those concepts through rigorous experimentation, educated joint leaders, trained joint [[task force]] commanders and staffs, and recommended joint solutions to the [[United States Army|Army]], [[United States Navy|Navy]], [[United States Air Force|Air Force]] and [[United States Marines|Marines]] to better integrate their warfighting capabilities.

===Organization===
USJFCOM included members from each branch of the U.S. military, civil servants, contract employees, and consultants.  It had four component commands, a sub-unified command (Special Operations component is [https://web.archive.org/web/20070222225144/http://www.jfcom.mil/about/com_socjfcom.htm SOCJFCOM]) and eight subordinate activities, including: [https://web.archive.org/web/20070209092641/http://www.jfcom.mil/about/abt_j7.htm Joint Warfighting Center]; [https://web.archive.org/web/20070214000355/http://www.jfcom.mil/about/com_jsic.htm Joint Systems Integration Center]; [https://web.archive.org/web/20070222152418/http://www.jfcom.mil/about/fact_jtci.htm Joint Transformation Command for Intelligence]; and [[Joint Warfare Analysis Center]] (JWAC). JFCOM's Service components were the [[CONUS]] based commands that provided forces to other combatant commands: [[United States Army Forces Command]] (FORSCOM), [[United States Fleet Forces Command]] (USFLTFORCOM), [[Air Combat Command]] (ACC), and [[United States Marine Corps Forces Command]] (MARFORCOM).
	
USJFCOM Joint Concept Development and Experimentation (JCD&E) (J9) aimed to develop innovative joint concepts and capabilities providing experimentally proven solutions to the most pressing problems facing the joint force. It aimed to rapidly deliver operationally relevant solutions to support current operations and drive DOTMLPF and policy changes to better enable the future joint force. JCD&E aimed to provide thought leadership and collaborative environments to generate innovative ideas with a range of interagency, multinational, academic and private sector partners. 
	
The C2 (Command and Control) Core was a DoD project sponsored by Joint Forces Command and the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense/Network and Information Integration (OASD/NII) to develop an open standard-supporting, extensible markup language (XML)-based command and control (C2) data exchange. It represents the first major implementation of the Universal Core v2.0, a federal information sharing initiative. It supports the DoD Net Centric Data Strategy by enabling data to be visible, accessible, understandable, trustworthy and interoperable. The overarching goal of this project is to support national and coalition warfighters by improving joint interoperability at the data and information layer.
	 	
Accomplishing these strategic goals within the C2 community involves publishing and evolving agreed-upon standards that exchange partners (services and, down the line, combatant commands and agencies) can use to share data more broadly, efficiently and effectively. The C2 Core standards also link C2 design guidance emerging at both the DoD enterprise level and within multiple C2-related communities of interest and programs of record to support the broadest range of interoperability requirements possible.

Among the command's many directorates and departments was Project Alpha, a JFCOM rapid idea analysis group created to "identify high-impact ideas from industry, [[academia]] and the defense community that could transform the [[United States Department of Defense]] into an organization better equipped to deal with the uncertain landscape of the future."<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20021022172516/http://www.jfcom.mil/about/fact_alpha.htm Archived copy of the Project Alpha article on the USJFC website, since removed from public view]</ref> Project Alpha was discontinued as part of an internal reorganization of U.S. Joint Forces Command's Joint Experimentation Directorate.{{Citation needed|date=December 2011}}

As of 1 August 2011, the Joint Warfighting Center (J7), Joint Center for Operational Analysis, and the Joint Concept Development and Experimentation directorate (J9) merged and transitioned from Joint Forces Command to the [[Joint Staff]] J7 as part of USJFCOM's disestablishment.<ref>[http://www.jfcom.mil/newslink/storyarchive/2011/pa080111a.html J7 transitions to Joint Staff], accessed June 2012 {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120129091624/http://www.jfcom.mil/newslink/storyarchive/2011/pa080111a.html |date=29 January 2012 }}</ref> The new organization created by this merger will remain in Suffolk, Va., and be known as the deputy director J7 for joint and coalition warfighting, a subordinate element of the Joint Staff J7. "We will continue our mission to provide comprehensive training that meets demands of the joint warfighter who continue to engage our adversaries in an ever-changing operational environment," said Army Maj. Gen. Frederick S. Rudesheim, deputy director for joint and coalition warfighting.  "Key functions and missions will be linked together in a more efficient and effective manner, providing an integrated approach to joint development and joint training."

===Disestablishment===
US Joint Forces command was in charge of the theater surrounding Washington, DC and New York during the 9/11 attacks.  During a cost cutting session, General Mattis, then in command of JFCOM  suggested to disband because in his interviews with his own staff it was clear to him that most did not see added value.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Mattis|first=James N. |title=Call sign chaos: learning to lead|date=2019|author2=Francis J. West|isbn=978-0-8129-9683-8|edition=First |location=New York|oclc=1112672474}}</ref> On 9 August 2010 [[United States Secretary of Defense|Secretary of Defense]] [[Robert Gates]] announced that Joint Forces Command has been slated for elimination as a budget-saving measure.<ref>[https://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100809/ap_on_bi_ge/us_pentagon_budget_cuts Find Article: ''Officials: Belt-tightening will cut major command''] Associated Press report {{dead link|date=June 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2010/08/military_gates_cuts_080910w/ |title=Gates to kill JFCOM, cut general officer billets |last=Tilghman |first=Andrew |date=9 August 2010 |work=[[Marine Corps Times]] |access-date=10 August 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110315193240/http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2010/08/military_gates_cuts_080910w/ |archive-date=15 March 2011 }}</ref> General [[Ray Odierno]] was given the task of winding down JFCOM.<ref>[http://www.acus.org/natosource/secretary-defense-close-joint-forces-command Find Article: ''Gates to shut down USJFCOM in 2011''] US Defense Secretary Press Release {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130509231017/http://www.acus.org/natosource/secretary-defense-close-joint-forces-command |date=9 May 2013 }}</ref> On 6 January 2011, the plan was officially approved in a memorandum by President Obama.<ref>{{cite web | first = Barack | last = Obama | author-link = Barack Obama | url = https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2011/01/06/presidential-memorandum-disestablishment-united-states-joint-forces-comm | title = Presidential Memorandum – Disestablishment of United States Joint Forces Command | date = 6 January 2011 | access-date =7 January 2011 | publisher=White House Press Office}}</ref> On 4 August 2011, Joint Forces Command cased its flag colors<ref>{{cite web|first=Jim |last=Garamone |url=https://www.defense.gov/News/News-Stories/id/64927/ |title=Joint Forces Command Cases Its Colors |date=4 August 2011 |access-date=4 August 2011 |publisher=American Forces Press Service via Defense.gov |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120124182329/http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=64927 |archive-date=24 January 2012 }}</ref> and officially disestablished on 31 August 2011.

Special Operations Command Joint Forces Command (SOCJFCOM) was transferred to U.S. Special Operations Command after the disestablishment of JFCOM, but was then disestablished in 2013.

==Former commanders==

Until 24 October 2002, all combatant commanders held the title of "[[Commander-in-Chief]]", including the commander in chief of Joint Forces Command (USCINCJFCOM). However, an order dispatched by [[U.S. Secretary of Defense|Secretary of Defense]] [[Donald Rumsfeld]] renamed all CINCs in the [[United States military]] as "Commanders" with the use of "CINC" as an acronym for anyone other than the President being strictly forbidden.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.defense.gov/News/News-Stories/id/42568/ |title='CINC' Is Sunk |date=25 October 2002 |agency=American Forces Press Service |publisher=U.S. Department of Defense |access-date=2011-11-04 |quote=The term 'CINC' is sunk. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld put out a memo Oct. 24 to DoD leaders saying there is only one commander in chief in America — the president.}}</ref> Additionally, the dual-hatted title of [[Supreme Allied Commander Atlantic]] carried over to JFCOM from [[United States Atlantic Command|U.S. Atlantic Command]] and remained until October 2003 when it was superseded by the title of [[Supreme Allied Commander Transformation]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.act.nato.int/list-of-supreme-allied-commanders-atlantic | title=List of Supreme Allied Commanders Atlantic :: NATO's ACT }}</ref>

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center;" 
|-
! rowspan=2| {{abbr|No.|Number}}
! colspan=2| Commander
! colspan=3| Term
! rowspan=2| Service branch
|-
! Portrait
! Name
! Took office
! Left office
! Duration
{{Officeholder table
| order             = 1
| image             = Admiral Harold W. Gehman, Jr..jpg
| military_rank     = [[Admiral (United States)|Admiral]]
| officeholder      = [[Harold W. Gehman Jr.]]
| officeholder_sort = Gehman, Harold W. Jr.
| born_year         = 1942
| died_year         = 
| term_start        = September 29, 1999
| term_end          = September 5, 2000
| timeinoffice      = {{ayd|1999|09|29|2000|09|05}}
| defence_branch    = [[File:Emblem of the United States Navy.svg|75px]]<br>[[United States Navy|U.S. Navy]]
}}
{{Officeholder table
| order             = 2
| image             = William F Kernan.jpg
| military_rank     = [[General (United States)|General]]
| officeholder      = [[William F. Kernan]]
| officeholder_sort = Kernan, William F.
| born_year         = 1946
| died_year         = 
| term_start        = September 5, 2000
| term_end          = October 2, 2002
| timeinoffice      = {{ayd|2000|09|05|2002|10|02}}
| defence_branch    = [[File:Military service mark of the United States Army.svg|75px]]<br>[[United States Army|U.S. Army]]
}}
{{Officeholder table
| order             = 3
| image             = US Navy 050422-N-0000X-001 Official U.S. Navy file photo of Adm. Edmund P. Giambastiani, Jr.jpg
| military_rank     = Admiral
| officeholder      = [[Edmund P. Giambastiani Jr.]]
| officeholder_sort = Giambastiani, Edmund P. Jr.
| born_year         = 1948
| died_year         = 
| term_start        = October 2, 2002
| term_end          = August 1, 2005
| timeinoffice      = {{ayd|2002|10|02|2005|08|01}}
| defence_branch    = [[File:Emblem of the United States Navy.svg|75px]]<br>[[United States Navy|U.S. Navy]]
}}
{{Officeholder table
| order             = -
| image             = Lt. Gen. Robert W. Wagner (1).jpg
| military_rank     = Lieutenant General
| officeholder      = [[Robert W. Wagner]]
| officeholder_sort = Wagner, Robert W.
| acting            = y
| born_year         = 
| died_year         = 
| term_start        = August 1, 2005
| term_end          = November 10, 2005
| timeinoffice      = {{ayd|2005|08|01|2005|11|10}}
| defence_branch    = [[File:Military service mark of the United States Army.svg|75px]]<br>[[United States Army|U.S. Army]]
}}
{{Officeholder table
| order             = 4
| image             = Lance L Smith.jpg
| military_rank     = General
| officeholder      = [[Lance L. Smith]]
| officeholder_sort = Smith, Lance L.
| born_year         = 1946
| died_year         = 
| term_start        = November 10, 2005
| term_end          = November 9, 2007
| timeinoffice      = {{ayd|2005|11|10|2007|11|09}}
| defence_branch    = [[File:U.S. Air Force service mark.svg|75px]]<br>[[United States Air Force|U.S. Air Force]]
}}
{{Officeholder table
| order             = 5
| image             = James N. Mattis.jpg
| military_rank     = General
| officeholder      = [[Jim Mattis]]
| officeholder_sort = Mattis, Jim
| born_year         = 1950
| died_year         = 
| term_start        = November 9, 2007
| term_end          = September 2010
| timeinoffice      = ~{{ayd|2005|11|10|2010|09|01}}
| defence_branch    = [[File:Emblem of the United States Marine Corps.svg|75px]]<br>[[United States Marine Corps|U.S. Marine Corps]]
}}
{{Officeholder table
| order             = -
| image             = Lt. Gen. Keith M. Huber.jpg
| military_rank     = Lieutenant General
| officeholder      = [[Keith M. Huber]]
| officeholder_sort = Huber, Keith M.
| acting            = y
| born_year         = 
| died_year         = 
| term_start        = September 2010
| term_end          = October 29, 2010
| timeinoffice      = ~{{ayd|2010|09|01|2010|10|29}}
| defence_branch    = [[File:Military service mark of the United States Army.svg|75px]]<br>[[United States Army|U.S. Army]]
}}
{{Officeholder table
| order             = 6
| image             = Odierno Class A.jpg
| military_rank     = General
| officeholder      = [[Raymond T. Odierno]]
| officeholder_sort = Odierno, Raymond T.
| born_year         = 1954
| died_year         = 2021
| term_start        = October 29, 2010
| term_end          = August 31, 2011
| timeinoffice      = {{ayd|2010|10|29|2011|08|31}}
| defence_branch    = [[File:Military service mark of the United States Army.svg|75px]]<br>[[United States Army|U.S. Army]]
}}
|}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20010202023400/http://www.jfcom.mil/ USJFCOM official site]
* [http://www.smallwarsjournal.com/blog/us-joint-forces-command-formally-disestablished Small Wars Journal stitch-together of news articles covering JFCOM deactivation]

{{Unified Combatant Command of the United States armed forces}}
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[[Category:Unified combatant commands of the U.S. Department of Defense|Joint Forces Command]]
[[Category:Military units and formations in Virginia]]
[[Category:Military units and formations established in 1999]]
[[Category:Military units and formations disestablished in 2011]]
[[Category:1999 establishments in the United States]]
[[Category:2011 disestablishments in the United States]]