Analysis of the Role of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in the Requirements Generation and Resource Allocation Process within the Department of Defense

This thesis examines the role of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in the requirements generation and resource allocation process within the Department of Defense (DoD). The Joint Chiefs of Staff's role and particularly that of the Chairman in the Planning, Programming, and Budgeting System (PPBS) continues to evolve and has become not only more critical but more visible due to the end of the Cold War and the subsequent DoD drawdown. This thesis will identify the changes that have occurred to this process from the early years prior to 1960, through the McNamara era and the introduction of the Planning, Programming, and Budgeting System, and the changes that occurred as a result of the Goldwater- Nichols Defense Reorganization Act of 1986. The role of the Joint Chiefs of Staff will be examined in each of these periods and a detailed explanation of the current process will be given. Additionally, the role of the Chairman and of the Joint Requirements Oversight Council and their growing influence over the PPBS will be investigated. Finally, this thesis will describe the emerging Joint Warfighting Capability Assessment process and its role in resource allocation for national defense.Naval Postgraduate School Monterey CA is the author of 'Analysis of the Role of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in the Requirements Generation and Resource Allocation Process within the Department of Defense', published 1996 under ISBN 9781423579038 and ISBN 1423579038.