Do US Military Commands Really Need Reorganizing? By Michael E. O'Hanlon, Brookings Institution
In recent weeks, the basic question of how the Pentagon organizes itself for overseas operations has gained new attention. Thanks are due largely to Senator John McCain, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, who has held a number of hearings on the subject and seems bent on pushing the issue in 2016. The new chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Joseph Dunford, has also expressed interest in reform.
Some modest changes are likely in order, perhaps most of all in the cyber domain. Dunford's idea to streamline his own joint staff, housed in the Pentagon, also makes sense. But in an era when the government has been seemingly reorganizing itself to deal with every new problem, most notably with intelligence and homeland security, we need to avoid change for change's sake…
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QUOTE The four-star commanders in Korea and Afghanistan report through Pacific and Central commands, respectively. The head of European Command is also the Supreme Allied Commander of the 28-nation NATO alliance. Some of the commands had their origins in the late 1940s; most came into their current form in major reforms in either 1983, 1987, or 2002; Africa Command is the newest kid on the block, having been inaugurated in the last year of the George W. Bush administration. END QUOTE
Not completely accurate regarding Korea. The Commander of United States Forces Korea as a subunified command of the U. S. Pacific Command does "report through" the Pacific Command. However, the Commander of the ROK/US Combined Forces Command as the command with the war fighting responsibility within the Korean Theater of Operations (KTO), when established, "reports through" the Military Committee to the National Command and Military Authorities of both the ROK and US governments. And the Commander of the United Nations Command "reports through" the US Chairman of the Joints Chiefs of Staff because UN Security Council Resolutions 82-85 designate the United States as the executive agent for the UN Command.