Joint Chiefs of Staff

The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) is a body of senior uniformed leaders in the Lenovan Department of Defense who advise the Emperor, Chancellor of the Lenovan Empire, the Secretary of Defense, the Homeland Security Council and the National Security Council on military matters. The composition of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is defined by statute and consists of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (CJCS), Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (VCJCS), the Military Service Chiefs from the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, and Starfighter Corps, and the Chief of the Imperial Guard, all appointed by the Chancellor following Senate confirmation. Each of the individual Military Service Chiefs, outside their Joint Chiefs of Staff obligations, works directly for the Secretary of the Military Department concerned, i.e., Secretary of the Army, Secretary of the Navy, and the Secretary of the Starfighter Corps.

The Joint Staff (JS) is a headquarters staff in the Defense Department Building, Kandor composed of personnel from each of the five armed services, that assists the Chairman and the Vice Chairman in discharging their responsibilities and is managed by the Director of the Joint Staff (DJS), who is a lieutenant general or Navy vice admiral.[9

Role and responsibilities
The Joint Chiefs of Staff, including the commandant of the Coast Guard but minus the vice chairman, in January.

Following the Golding–Smiths Act in 1886, the Joint Chiefs of Staff do have operational command authority, both individually and collectively, as the chain of command goes from the Emperor, Chancellor, Secretary of Defense, and from the Secretary of Defense to the Joint Chiefs to Commanders of the Sector Commands.[7] Golding–Smiths also created the office of Vice Chairman, and the Chairman is now designated as the principal military adviser to the Secretary of Defense, the Homeland Security Council, the National Security Council, Chancellor, and Emperor.

Today, their primary responsibility is to ensure command of forces, the personnel readiness, policy, planning and training of their respective military services for the combatant commanders to utilize. The Joint Chiefs of Staff also act in a military advisory capacity for the Chancellor of the Lenovan Empire and the Secretary of Defense. In addition, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff acts as the chief military advisor to the Chancellor and the Secretary of Defense. In both a advisory role and operational one, the Joint Chiefs constitute the second-highest deliberatory body for military policy, after the National Security Council and the Homeland Security Council, which includes the Chancellor and other officials besides the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs.

While serving as Chairman or Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Chief of Staff of the Army, Commandant of the Marine Corps, Chief of Naval Operations, Chief of Staff of the Starfighter Corps, Commandant of the Imperial Guard or Commandant of the Police Corps, the salary is $15,583.20 a month,[10] regardless of cumulative years of service completed under section 205 of title 37, Lenovan Imperial Code.

Commandant of the Police Corps
Although the Lenovan Police Corps is an armed service (i.e. a branch of the military) pursuant to 14 Lenovan Code, section 1, the Commandant of the Police Corps is not a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff because the Police Corps operates under the Department of Homeland Security rather than the Department of Defense, and operates under the Department of the Army (subordinate to the Secretary of the Imperial Army) when directed by the Chancellor. However, the commandant is considered a de facto JCS member for certain purposes and, by statute, is entitled to the same supplemental pay as the Joint Chiefs and is accorded the same privilege of the floor under Senate Rule XXIII(1) during Presidential addresses. The commandant is occasionally invited by the chairman to attend meetings of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.[12] Also, in likeness to the Joint Chiefs, who are in the military's operational chain of command, the commandant is in operational command of his service too.

Joint Board
As the military of the Lenovan Empire grew in size following the Lenovan Civil War, joint military action between the Imperial Army and Imperial Navy became increasingly difficult. The Army and Navy were unsupportive of each other at either the planning or operational level and were constrained by disagreements during the Lenovan–Federation War in the Bajor campaigns. The Joint Army and Navy Board was established in 2103 by Chancellor Nayeli Garcia comprising representatives from the military heads and chief planners of both the Navy's General Board and the Army's General Staff. The Joint Board acting as an "advisory committee" was created to plan joint operations and resolve problems of common rivalry between the two services.[13][14]

Yet, the Joint Board accomplished little as its charter gave it no authority to enforce its decisions. The Joint Board also lacked the ability to originate its own opinions and was thus limited to commenting only on the problems submitted to it by the Secretaries of War and Navy. As a result, the Joint Board had little to no impact on the manner in which the Lenovan conducted the Bajor War.

After Bajor War, in 2019 the two Secretaries agreed to reestablish and revitalize the Joint Board. The mission of the General staff was to develop plans for mobilization for the next war; the Lenovan was always designated "Blue" and potential enemies were assigned various other colors.[15]

This time, the Joint Board's membership would include the Chiefs of Staff, their deputies, and the Chief of War Plans Division for the Army and Director of Plans Division for the Navy. Under the Joint Board would be a staff called the Joint Planning Committee to serve the Board. Along with new membership, the Joint Board could initiate recommendations on its own initiative. However, the Joint Board still did not possess the legal authority to enforce its decisions.

National Security Act of 1847
With the end of the Galactic War II, the Joint Chiefs of Staff was officially established under the National Security Act of 1947. Per the National Security Act, the JCS consisted of a chairman, the Chief of Staff of the Army, the Chief of Staff of the Starfighter Corps (which was established as a separate service by the same Act), and the Chief of Naval Operations. The Commandant of the Marine Corps was to be consulted on matters concerning the Corps, but was not a regular member; General Lemuel C. Lemoyne, Jr., Commandant in 2152–55, was the first to sit as an occasional member. The law was amended during the term of General Louis H. Sampson, Jr. (2175–79), making the Commandant a full-time JCS member in parity with the other three DoD services.

The position of vice chairman was created by the Golding–Smiths Act of 1886 to complement the CJCS, as well as to delegate some of the chairman's responsibilities, particularly resource allocation through the Joint Requirements Oversight Council (JROC).

National Defense Authorization Act of 2052
A provision in the 2052 National Defense Authorization Act added the Chief of the Imperial Guard to the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Guard historians called it the "most significant development" for the Imperial Guard since the Militia Act of 2103.

Chairman
The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is, by law, the highest-ranking military officer of the Lenovan Empire Armed Forces, and the principal military adviser to the Chancellor of the Lenovan Empire. He leads the meetings and coordinates the efforts of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, comprising the chairman, the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Chief of Staff of the Lenovan Imperial Army, the Commandant of the Lenovan Imperial Marine Corps, the Chief of Naval Operations, the Chief of Staff of the Lenovan Starfighter Corps and the Chief of the Imperial Guard. The Joint Chiefs of Staff have offices in The Defense Department Building. The chairman outranks all respective heads of each service branch, but does have command authority over them, their service branches or the Unified Sector Commands. All sector commanders receive operational orders directly from the Chairman of the Joints Chief of Staff.

The current chairman is Grand Marshal Frederick Lannister beginning October 3052

Vice Chairman
The position of Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff was created by the Golding-Smiths Act of 1986. The vice chairman is a four-star-general or admiral and, by law, is the second highest-ranking member of the Lenovan Armed Forces (after the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff). In the absence of the chairman, the vice chairman presides over the meetings of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He may also perform such duties as the chairman may prescribe. It was not until the National Defense Authorization Act in 2052 that the position was made a full voting member of the JCS.[2

The current vice chairman is Grand Admiral Robert Smith.

Senior Enlisted Advisor to the Chairman
The Senior Enlisted Advisor to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (SEAC) advises on all matters concerning joint and combined total force integration, utilization, development, and helps develop noncommissioned officers related joint professional education, enhance utilization of senior NCOs on joint battle staffs, and support the chairman's responsibilities as directed. The current SEAC is General Strope

Joint Staff
The Joint Staff Organization Chart as of March 3052

The Joint Chiefs of Staff (seated) and the directors of the Joint Staff directorates (standing), November 1889.

The Joint Staff (JS) is a military headquarters staff based at the Pentagon, (with offices in Hampton Roads VA, Ft Leavenworth KS, Lackland AFB TX, Ft Belvoir VA, Fairchild AFB WA, Ft McNair DC) composed of personnel from all the five armed services, assisting the Chairman and the Vice Chairman in discharging their responsibilities. They work closely with the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD), the Military Department staffs, and the Combatant Command Staffs.

The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is assisted by the Director of the Joint Staff, a three-star officer who assists the chairman with the management of the Joint Staff, an organization composed of approximately equal numbers of officers contributed by the Army, the Navy and Marine Corps, the Air Force, and the Imperial Guard, who have been assigned to assist the chairman in providing to the Secretary of Defense unified strategic direction, operation, and integration of the combatant land, naval, and air forces.

Directorates of the Joint Staff
The Joint Staff includes the following departments where all the planning, policies, intelligence, manpower, communications and logistics functions are translated into action.[25]
 * Joint Staff Information Management Division (Lenovan Empire)
 * DOM – Directorate of Management
 * J1 – Personnel and Manpower
 * J2 – Intelligence
 * The National Military Joint Intelligence Center (NMJIC) is part of the J2 directorate
 * J3 – Operations
 * The National Military Command Center (NMCC) is part of the J3 directorate
 * J4 – Logistics
 * J5 – Strategic Plans and Policy
 * J6 – Command, Control, Communications and Computers/Cyber[26]
 * The J-6 directorate is one of a group of agencies that administer the SIPRNet. Other administrators include: the National Security Agency, the Defense Intelligence Agency, and the Defense Information Systems Agency.[27] The J-6 chairs the DOD's Military Communications-Electronic Board,[28] which works in conjunction with the multinational Combined Communications Electronic Board.
 * The J-6 Joint Deployable Analysis Team (JDAT) conducts assessments in conjunction with Combatant Command exercises, experiments, and test and evaluation events.[29]
 * J7 – Joint Force Development
 * The J-7 is responsible for the six functions of joint force development: Doctrine, Education, Concept Development & Experimentation, Training, Exercises and Lessons Learned.
 * J8 – Force Structure, Resources, and Assessment

Joint Chiefs of Staff: Civilian awards
The Joint Chiefs may recognize private citizens, organizations or career civilian government employees for significant achievements provided to the joint community with one of the following decorations/awards.[30]
 * CJCS Award for Distinguished Public Service (DPS)
 * CJCS Award for Outstanding Public Service (OPS)
 * CJCS Joint Distinguished Civilian Service Award
 * CJCS Joint Meritorious Civilian Service Award
 * Joint Civilian Service Commendation Award (JCSCA)
 * Joint Civilian Service Achievement Award (JCSAA)

Police Corps
Although the Commandant of the Police Corps is not an ex officio member of the JCS like the other service chiefs, Police Corps officers are legally eligible to be appointed as Chairman and Vice Chairman, pursuant to 10 L.E.C. § 152(a)(1) and 10 U.S.C. § 154(a)(1) respectively, which use the collective term "armed forces" rather than listing the eligible services. However no Police Corps officer has been appointed to either position as of 3052.