The Joint Chiefs of Staff is a panel comprising the highest-ranking members of each major branch of the armed services in any particular country. The following information refers to the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the United States Armed Forces, but similar arrangements are common in other nations.

The current Joint Chiefs of Staff are:

General Richard B. Myers	Chairman	U.S. Air Force
General Peter Pace	Vice Chairman	U.S. Marine Corps
General Pete Schoomaker	Chief of Staff of the United States Army	U.S. Army
Admiral Vern Clark	Chief of Naval Operations	U.S. Navy
General Michael W. Hagee	Commandant of the Marine Corps	U.S. Marine Corps
General John P. Jumper	Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force	U.S. Air Force

On July 20, 1942, Fleet Admiral William D. Leahy became the Chief of Staff to the Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy. He was not technically the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. That post was established and first held by General of the Army Omar Bradley in 1949.

After the 1986 reorganization of the military undertaken by the Goldwater-Nichols Act, the Joint Chiefs of Staff do not have operational command of U.S. military forces. Responsibility for conducting military operations goes directly from the Secretary of Defense to the head of the United States combatant commands and the chain of command bypasses the Joint Chiefs of Staff completely. Today, their primary responsibility is to ensure the readiness of their respective military services. The Joint Chiefs of Staff also act in an advisory military capacity for the President of the United States and the Secretary of Defense. In addition, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff acts as the chief military advisor to the President.

Past Chairmen

General of the Army Omar N. Bradley, USA	August 16, 1949	August 15, 1953
Admiral Arthur W. Radford, USN	August 15, 1953	August 15, 1957
General Nathan F. Twining, USAF	August 15, 1957	September 30, 1960
General Lyman L. Lemnitzer, USA	October 1, 1960	September 30, 1962
General Maxwell D. Taylor, USA	October 1, 1962	July 1, 1964
General Earle G. Wheeler, USA	July 3, 1964	July 2, 1970
Admiral Thomas H. Moorer, USN	July 2, 1970	July 1, 1974
General George S. Brown , USAF	July 1, 1974	June 20, 1978
General David C. Jones, USAF	June 21, 1978	June 18, 1982
General John W. Vessey, Jr., USA	June 18, 1982	September 30, 1985
Admiral William J. Crowe, Jr. , USN	October 1, 1985	September 30, 1989
General Colin L. Powell, USA	October 1, 1989	September 30, 1993
Admiral David E. Jeremiah , USN (acting)	October 1, 1993	October 24, 1993
General John M. Shalikashvili, USA	October 25, 1993	September 30, 1997
General Henry H. Shelton, USA	October 1, 1997	September 30, 2001
General Richard B. Myers, USAF	October 1, 2001

External link

• Official site

Further reading

• Four Stars: The Inside Story of the Forty-Year Battle Between the Joint Chiefs of Staff and America's Civilian Leaders, Mark Perry, Houghton Mifflin, 1989, hardcover: 412 pages, ISBN 0395429234