Title 10 — Armed ForcesRelease 119-73

§163 Role of Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff

Title 10 › Subtitle Subtitle A— - General Military Law › Part PART I— - ORGANIZATION AND GENERAL MILITARY POWERS › Chapter CHAPTER 6— - COMBATANT COMMANDS › § 163

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

The President can order that messages between the President or the Secretary of Defense and the commanders of the unified and specified combatant commands go through the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The President can also give the Chairman tasks to help carry out command duties, as limited by section 152(c). The Secretary of Defense can tell the Chairman to oversee combatant command activities, but that does not give the Chairman any command power or change the commanders’ duties under section 164(b)(2). Under the Secretary’s direction, the Chairman speaks for the combatant commanders about their operational needs. To do that, the Chairman must talk with the commanders, collect and combine their information, advise and recommend to the Secretary about those needs (both for each command and all together), and pass the commanders’ needs to other parts of the Department of Defense when needed.

Full Legal Text

Title 10, §163

Armed Forces — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Subject to the limitations in section 152(c) of this title, the President may—

(1)direct that communications between the President or the Secretary of Defense and the commanders of the unified and specified combatant commands be transmitted through the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; and

(2)assign duties to the Chairman to assist the President and the Secretary of Defense in performing their command function.

(b)(1)The Secretary of Defense may assign to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff responsibility for overseeing the activities of the combatant commands. Such assignment by the Secretary to the Chairman does not confer any command authority on the Chairman and does not alter the responsibility of the commanders of the combatant commands prescribed in section 164(b)(2) of this title.

(2)Subject to the authority, direction, and control of the Secretary of Defense, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff serves as the spokesman for the commanders of the combatant commands, especially on the operational requirements of their commands. In performing such function, the Chairman shall—

(A)confer with and obtain information from the commanders of the combatant commands with respect to the requirements of their commands;

(B)evaluate and integrate such information;

(C)advise and make recommendations to the Secretary of Defense with respect to the requirements of the combatant commands, individually and collectively; and

(D)communicate, as appropriate, the requirements of the combatant commands to other elements of the Department of Defense.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

10 U.S.C. § 163

Title 10 — Armed Forces

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73