Successful military organizations are always assessing and adapting; this includes methods of command and control. The joint task forces with constituent air, land, and maritime components currently used by the U.S. military have demonstrated benefits, but are all too often ad hoc structures that take too long to stand up and fight as a cohesive team. Tom Bruscino and Lou Yuengert are in the studio to talk about their recently released manuscript, The Future of the Joint Warfighting Headquarters: An Alternative Approach to the Joint Task Force, which they wrote with fellow authors Eric Bissonette, Kelvin Mote, Matthew Powell, Marc Sanborn and James Watts. Tom and Lou argue that now is the time to create standing, numbered, and regionally aligned joint warfighting headquarters— American Expeditionary Forces (AEFs)—around a command council and a staff organized into Joint centers and cells. They join host Darrell Driver to share the thought process behind the organizational structure and why the U.S. military must become a superior and sustainable joint force sooner than its adversaries.
We can’t be playing with pick up teams, especially given our theory now that war will happen so fast and what happens at the beginning really makes a difference for what how it turns out overall.
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Thomas Bruscino is an Associate Professor in the Department of Military, Strategy, Planning and Operations at the U.S. Army War College and the Editor of the DUSTY SHELVES series.
Louis Yuengert is the Professor of Defense Leadership and Enterprise Management in the Department of Command, Leadership, and Management at the U.S. Army War College. He is a former course director for the Defense Management core course and he teaches with the Carlisle Scholars Program, a special program.
Darrell Driver is an Associate Professor in the Department of Military, Strategy, Planning and Operations at the U.S. Army War College.
The views expressed in this presentation are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect those of the U.S. Army War College, U.S. Army, or Department of Defense.
Photo Description: Gen. John J. Pershing, Commander of the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) and his General Staff at the AEF Headquarters, Chaumont, France, circa 1917-18.
Photo Credit: U.S. Army photo