Clash Brewing Over Congressional Proposal to Create Nimbler Military Commands
By Sandra I. Erwin
Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash.
As the House and Senate begin the process to reconcile vastly different defense policy bills, House Armed Services Ranking Member Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., hinted that he is weighing support for Senate language that would downsize the military command structure and require the secretary of defense to create nimbler organizations.
This is one of many provisions in the Senate version of the fiscal year 2017 National Defense Authorization Act that seek to overhaul the Pentagon’s civilian and military organizations. These reforms have long been advocated by Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., as part of a broader effort to rewrite the 1986 Goldwater-Nichols Act.
McCain has pressed the case that current geography-based organizations are too rigid to respond to opportunist enemies like the Islamic State.
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