Unified Commands are commands that have broad, continuing missions and are composed of forces from two or
more military departments. Each of the unified commands is directly responsible to the Secretary of Defense and
the NCA. The OJCS is in the communications chain of command, which means that communications from the
NCA to the unified commands pass through the OJCS. There are currently nine unified commands. Five of them
have regional responsibilities and four have functional responsibilities.
1 Regional unified commands:
U.S. Atlantic Command, located in Norfolk, Virginia
U.S. European Command, located in Stuttgart, Germany.
U.S. Southern Command, located in Miami, Florida.
U.S. Central Command, located at McDill AFB, Florida.
U.S. Pacific Command, located at Camp Smith, Hawaii.
2 Functional commands
U.S. Special Operations Command.
U.S. Transportation Command.
U.S. Space Command.
U.S. Strategic Command.
(3) Unified Command Joint Staffs. The staffs at each of the unified commands are organized
essentially the same as the Joint Staff that support the JCS. A typical joint staff is as follows:
(a) Manpower and Personnel Division (J-1). Manages personnel, develops personnel policies,
administers military and civilian personnel within the command, and administers prisoners of war.
(b) Intelligence Division (J-2). Ensures that the joint command has sound intelligence on the
area of operations and the location, activities and capabilities of threat forces. Activities may include HUMINT,
and counterintelligence, target identification and selection, and electronic gathering and analysis.
(c) Operations Division (J-3). Directs and controls current operations. The division is
responsible for initial planning and integration and coordination of joint operations. Responsibilities of the
division may include the conduct of special operations, including PSYOP and special warfare, joint training and
coordination of joint exercises.
QM5200
23-4
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