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Hunn Review: Annexes (30 September 2002)

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Annex D (continued)

Comparative Studies: Higher Defence Structures in Australia, United Kingdom, Canada and the United States

Higher-Level National Security Arrangements - Government and Parliament

  1. Political and parliamentary oversight in the UK is discharged through an array of committees. Principal of these is the Defence and Overseas Policy Committee. The Prime Minister chairs the Committee with its membership made up of the Deputy Prime Minister, Secretary of State for Defence, (equivalent to New Zealand's Minister of Defence), Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, (equivalent to New Zealand's Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade), Chancellor of the Exchequer (equivalent to New Zealand's Finance Minister) and Secretary of State for Trade and Industry. This committee examines broad issues of national security. It is similar in function, and membership, to the Australian National Security Committee of Cabinet.
  2. A Defence Council is responsible to this Defence and Overseas Policy Committee. The Secretary of State for Defence chairs the Council. Its membership includes the three other junior Ministers who support the Secretary of State, the Chief of Defence Staff and the Vice Chief of the Defence Staff the Permanent and 2nd Permanent Under Secretaries, the Chiefs of Staff, the Chief Scientific Adviser, the Chief of Defence Logistics and the Chief of Defence Procurement.
  3. Five subordinate committees report to the Defence Council. Of these, the Secretary of State for Defence chairs the Admiralty, Army and Air Force Boards. The other two committees are the Chiefs of Staff Committee (chaired by CDS, with membership including the Permanent Under Secretary) and the Defence Management Board (chaired by the Permanent Under Secretary). The Management Board is responsible for strategic direction and vision, defence policy and capability, and departmental management. It also allocates resources and manages overall performance. Membership includes the CDS, the Chiefs of Staff, the VCDS, the 2nd Permanent Under Secretary, Chief of Defence Procurement, the Chief Scientific Adviser and Chief Defence Logistics.
  4. Parliamentary oversight is mainly exercised through the Defence Select Committee. This committee normally meets once a week. Five permanent staff members and a range of specialist advisers including senior retired military officers and university senior academics assist the committee. Although the Select Committee makes recommendations to Parliament on its findings, it has no budgetary or legislative authority of its own and no prerogatives in terms of treaty making or ratification.
Public Consultation
  1. In 1997, the UK Government launched a Defence Review incorporating a comprehensive public consultation process. The aim was "to establish the widest possible shared vision about Britain's future security needs and the tasks of its Armed Forces...[and] to provide Britain's Armed Forces with a new sense of clarity, coherence and consensus".3 The Strategic Defence Review process as a whole was guided by the principles of openness with the public, the Parliament, the UK's allies and partners; maximum use of in-house staffs rather than setting up a separate review team; and widest possible involvement within the UK MoD and Government as a whole.
  2. The external public consultation process included:
    • Two open seminars led by the Foreign and Defence Secretaries of State, and attended by MPs, academics, representatives of non-Governmental Organisations, the media and Departmental officials;
    • Open invitation to make public submissions that produced over 500 written submissions from MPs and Peers, local authorities, academics, industry, interest groups, journalists and members of the public;
    • An informal discussion series with former Defence Ministers, retired senior officers and officials, industrialists, trade unionists, academics,
      former and current MPs, Peers, scientists, non-Governmental organisations and environmentalists;
    • Special Interest Group Briefings and Consultations, for example, the Trade Unions;
    • Two Parliamentary debates and the tabling of public submissions in Parliament;
    • 150 Parliamentary Questions answered over the course of the Review;
    • A panel of 18 "outsiders" with a diverse range of interests and experience in defence and other areas. This group was tasked with testing the conclusions emerging from the other discussions and working groups; and
    • Speeches by the Secretaries of State for Foreign Affairs and Defence.
  3. Because the key aims of the consultation process were to gather a broad range of information and input, and to build a committed consensus on defence policy and the military roles, force structures and management of defence, equal attention was paid to consultation within the Defence Organisation. The Review established over 20 MOD working groups comprising military and civilian personnel and representatives from other Government Departments, managed by the Vice Chief and the Second Permanent Secretary. These Working Groups briefed all senior committees up to and including the Defence Council.
  4. Submissions were encouraged from Service and civilian personnel with over 100 being received. An internal liaison team was established visiting camps and bases to listen personally to the views of Service and civilian personnel. Their visit programme provided over 7,500 staff members with the opportunity to discuss the Review and contribute their views. Summaries of results of the public consultation were subsequently distributed through the MoD's internet web-site.
  5. Subsequent to the completion of the Strategic Defence Review, three follow-up up-dating policy exercises have been conducted by the MoD to ensure that feedback is provided on the implementation of Strategic Defence Review's recommendations, and to incorporate and explain defence policy and capability changes that are being introduced to reflect changed strategic and resourcing circumstances. The latest update was issued publicly (in Parliament, hard-copy and electronically) in July 2002.4
Jointness Initiatives
  1. A number of significant structural and leadership initiatives have been undertaken to support the move to a joint military and integrated defence organisation culture. In addition to the Joint Central Staff in the UK Ministry of Defence, the Joint Logistics Organisation and the Equipment Capability Customer, a Joint Doctrine Centre has been established. Single Service staff colleges have been amalgamated into a single Joint Services Command and Staff College and are evolving increasingly joint programmes of learning.

Canada

  1. As for New Zealand, Australia and the United Kingdom, the Canadian defence system is founded on the precepts of the Westminster Parliamentary system. Like Australia, and the United Kingdom [and for that matter the United States], Canada's defence management system has evolved along a very consistent path to greater and greater levels of civilian-military and joint military integration.
  2. Under the Canadian National Defence Act, the Minister of Defence, is responsible for exercising control over the Department of National Defence and the Canadian Forces. Under the Emergencies and Emergency Preparedness Acts, he is also responsible for civil preparedness in Canada for (Civil Defence) emergencies.
  3. At the end of the Second World War, strategic defence management functions were integrated into a Department of National Defence. .In 1964, complete unification of the Canadian Armed Forces was directed. Completed by 1967, unification was supplemented in 1972 by the integration of the Department of National Defence and CF Headquarters into a National Defence Headquarters. Three environmental headquarters (land (Montreal), maritime (Halifax) and air (Winnipeg)) were set up. In the 1990s, the unification experiment was reviewed and changes were made in response. These included returning to distinctively uniformed land, maritime and air military Services, and the re-integration of the Chiefs of Land, Air and Maritime Staffs and their personal staffs into the National Defence Headquarters.
  4. A "Deputy Minister" (DM) heads the Department of National Defence. While the Deputy Minister is an appointed public servant, and in many respects is the equivalent of the New Zealand and Australian Secretaries of Defence, or the British Permanent Under Secretary of Defence, it would appear that the Canadian DND Deputy Minister is significantly more empowered. Under the Ministerial Statement on Authority, Responsibility and Accountability, promulgated as a response to the recommendations of the Somalia Inquiry, the Deputy Minister is identified as "the Minister's alter ego, both legally and in practical terms, who under the Interpretation Act, may exercise all of the Minister's powers except the power to make regulations". A Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS) commands the Canadian Forces and is the Government's senior military adviser.
Responsibilities and Accountabilities of the DM and CDS
  1. The Deputy Minister and the Chief of the Defence Staff jointly head the National Defence Headquarters. The DM has primary responsibility for defence policy, resources and international defence relations. The Chief of Defence Staff has primary responsibility for command, control and administration of the Canadian Forces and advice to the Minister on military requirements, capabilities, options and the possible consequences of undertaking or failing to undertake various military activities. The CDS is accountable to the Minister for the conduct of CF activities, as well for the condition of the Forces and their ability to fulfil the military commitments and obligations undertaken by the Government.
  2. Although the National Defence Headquarters is fully integrated, some functions fall primarily under the responsibility of the DM, while others are primarily the responsibility of the CDS. A few functions respond in equal measure to the DM and the CDS. The major components of the NDHQ are set out in Figure 3. The primary responsibility relationships of senior advisers and staff functions are:

Primary responsibility relationships of senior advisers and staff functions
Primarily Responsible to: Deputy Minister
Equally Responsible to DM and CDS
Primarily Responsible to Chief of Defence Staff
  • Assistant DM for Policy
  • Assistant DM for Financial and Corporate Services
  • Assistant DM for Material
  • Assistant DM for Infrastructure and Environment
  • Associate Assistant DM for Personnel (for civilians)
  • Vice Chief of the Defence Staff
  • DND and CF Legal Advisor
  • Chief of the Public Affairs
  • Chief of Review Services
  • Chief of the Maritime Staff
  • Chief of the Land Staff
  • Chief of the Air Staff
  • Deputy Chief of the Defence Staff
  • Assistant DM for Personnel (for military personnel)
  • Judge Advocate General
Roles of the Vice Chief of Defence Staff and Deputy Chief of Defence Staff
  1. The Vice Chief of the Defence Staff has a unique role in the staff structures of the Canadian NDHQ. By custom, he is the senior subordinate military officer to the CDS and acts as the CDS in the latter's absence. He is responsible to both the DM and the CDS for co-ordinating all cross-boundary issues and resolving differences among Group Principals (Assistant DMs) and the Environmental Chiefs of Staff. Finally, he is the senior resource manager for at the ND HQ, with responsibility for developing and overseeing the ND HQ' strategic management and planning process and generating planning options and guidance to meet overall defence objectives. In these roles, the VCDS holds the key integrative position for managing the relationships between all its functional components of the ND HQ. The Director General of Public Affairs, the DND and Canadian Forces Legal Adviser, the Chief of Review Services (Audit and Programme Evaluation) and the Chief Information Officer also report to the VCDS in the first instance.
Figure 3: Top-Level Canadian National Defence Headquarters Structure

Image: Figure 3 - Top-Level Canadian National Defence Headquarters Structure.

View text equivalent of above image.

  1. The Deputy Chief of the Defence Staff provides the operational direction to the Canadian Forces in the field for non-routine and contingency operations and is the focus for integrated military planning and operations at ND HQ. He is responsible for developing plans and taskings for non-routine and contingency operations, and recommending the allocation of military resources required to effect such operations. He is also responsible for the effective production and dissemination of defence and scientific intelligence, managing security and military police operations, and overseeing Emergency Preparedness Canada (similar to New Zealand Civil Defence), on behalf of the DM. In many respects, the Canadian DCDS carries out many of the same functions as New Zealand's Joint Forces Commander NZ.
Committee Structures
  1. The Canadian defence organisation is directed, led and managed through five key committees:
    • the Defence Council, which meets at the call of the Minister and is used to inform him of departmental activities and emerging issues and assist the Minister in reaching decisions. The other members are: the Parliamentary Secretary, DM, CDS, and other senior advisors;
    • the Defence Management Committee, which is co-chaired by the DM and CDS and is used to consider all management matters affecting the strategic direction of defence and to enable the DM and CDS to reach and co-ordinate decisions and advice to the Minister;
    • the Armed Forces Council which is chaired by the CDS and includes the VCDF, DCDS and the Environmental Chiefs of Staff and is used to consider broad military matters related to the command, control and administration of the CF, and to assist the CDS in reaching decisions;
    • Daily Executive Meeting, which is co-chaired by the CDS and DM and is used to provide information on on-going operations and activities, emerging issues and other pressing matters; and
    • Program Management Board, which is chaired by the VCDS and is used to provide resource management oversight.

United States

  1. The United States organisation, accountabilities and responsibilities for national security and defence are primarily set out in the US Constitution, the 1947 National Security Act and other Acts of Congress, US Code Title 10, and a series of Presidential Decision Directives and Presidential National Security Directives. The key components are:
    • a higher-level cross-Government national security structure and set of decision-making authorities;
    • a defence department and armed forces management structure; and
    • oversight functions and responsibilities of the US Congress.
Cross-Government National Security Structure
  1. Under the US Constitution, the President is ultimately responsible for national defence and is the Commander-in-Chief of the US Armed Forces. Unlike in New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Australia and Canada, this role in the US is not a titular or ceremonial one, but the final seat of decision-making authority for how and where US Armed Forces are used. The President is supported by the Secretary of Defense who is a political appointee nominated by the President, but appointed with the advice and consent of the US Senate. The Secretary of Defense position is a Federal Government cabinet-level appointment. The President and the Secretary of Defense are the "National Command Authorities" (NCAs) that have constitutional authority to direct the use of armed forces.
  2. The other components of the top-level US national security architecture are the:
    • National Security Council (NSC) (statutory members: the President, the Vice President, and the Secretaries of State and Defense; statutory advisers: Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Director of Central Intelligence; non-statutory member: the National Security Adviser);
    • National Security Council Principals Committee (draws together the Secretaries of all major federal departments with responsibilities that impinge upon national security; and
    • National Security Council Deputies and Policy Co-ordination Committees and NSC Staff (responsible for inter-agency sub-Cabinet level co-ordination and policy and strategy work).
  3. In the months following the September 11 attacks, it was determined that over 100 different Government organisations hold some responsibility for security of the US homeland. Virtually every major Congressional committee has some responsibility for oversight of these disparate organisations. In June 2002, the President proposed a new Federal Government department of Homeland Security, with responsibilities for border and transportation security, emergency preparedness and response, chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear countermeasures, and information analysis and infrastructure protection. While it is anticipated that the new Department will draw in a wide range of currently distinct agencies and sub-agencies, the major departments with security roles (Justice, FBI, CIA, Transportation, and Defense) will maintain their separate responsibilities. Consequently, there will still be a requirement for multi-agency co-ordination. To achieve this, the President will retain the Homeland Security Adviser, the Homeland Security Council and the White House Office of Homeland Security that were set up after September 11.
Defense Department Executive Structures and Responsibilities
  1. The history of evolution of the US Department of Defense is a consistent one of continual amalgamation and integration, focused on the responsibilities and authorities of the Secretary of Defense on the one hand, the Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff on the other.
  2. The Secretary of Defense heads the Department of Defense. The Department is divided into the Military Departments, the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, nine combatant commands, 14 defence agencies, and 7 Departmental Field Activities. This structure is outlined in Figure 4 overleaf.
Figure 4: Top-Level Organisation for the United States Department of Defense

Image: Figure 4 - Top-Level Organisation for the United States Department of Defense.

View text equivalent of above image.

  1. The Military Departments are headed by Service Secretaries who are civilian political appointees nominated by the President and appointed with the advice and consent of the US Senate. For all matters that are not connected to the operational chain of command, the military Chiefs of Staff report to their Military Department Secretary. The Departments, and the Service major commands and agencies are responsible for: (1) recruiting and training; (2) supply, and mobilisation; (3) administration; (4) equipment, buildings, structures and utilities procurement, maintenance and repair, and (5) acquisition of property.
  2. Under Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld, the Military Departments have started on reforms to address stove-pipe civilian and military structures, duplication, cumbersome work practices, and information blockages. These reforms include:
    • an integrated Executive Office for each Department that includes the Secretary, the Under Secretary, the Service Chief of Staff and Vice Chief;
    • a strengthened Director of the Departmental Staff with greater co-ordinating responsibilities;
    • advice and assistance relationships between Assistant Secretaries and Service staffs;
    • bringing policy/strategy/requirements functions up from subordinate commands into realigned strategic-level departmental organisations; and
    • realignment of staffs to match the staff designations of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
  3. The second major staff of the Department of Defense is the Office of the Secretary of Defense. This Office is the principal staff organisation used by the Secretary and Deputy Secretary to exercise authority, direction and control over the Department. In co-ordination with other parts of the Department, the Office is responsible for:
    • defence policies in support of US national security objectives;
    • oversight to assure the effective allocation and efficient management of resources consistent with Secretary's approved plans and programs;
    • evaluation mechanisms to supervise policy implementation and program execution at all levels of the Department; and
    • being the focal point for departmental participation in the US security community and other Government activities.
  4. The third major staff of the Department is the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Joint Staff organisation. The character of this organisation has been most significantly affected by the 1986 Goldwater Nichols Act that effectively mandated the jointness concept of the US Defence organisation by:
    • defining the Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff as the principal military adviser to the President and Secretary of Defense;
    • creating the Vice-Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff to act for the Chairman in his absence;
    • defining the Joint Chiefs of Staff, assisted by the Joint Staff, as the immediate military staff of the Secretary of Defense;
    • clarifying the role of the Secretary of Defense in the operational chain of command;
    • strengthening the independent authority of the Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Joint Staff;
    • requiring joint duty experience prior to appointment as a Joint Chiefs of Staff member or a unified or combatant commander;
    • specifying the normal chain of command to be from the President to the Secretary of Defense to combatant commanders;
    • requiring the Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff, to assess whether Service programs and budgets conform to strategic priorities and operational requirements; and
    • specifying the responsibilities of the Secretaries of the military departments to the Secretary of Defense and clarifying the authority of the Secretary of Defense over the Service Secretaries. 5
  5. The Joint Staff is responsible to the Chairman through the Vice Chairman and Joint Staff Director, to assist in his functions that include: strategic direction, strategic planning, contingency planning, requirements, programs and budgets, and doctrine, training and education. The Joint Staff is a joint functionally-organised structure. It has branches for: Manpower and Personnel, Intelligence, Operations, Logistics, Strategic Plans and Policy, Command, Control, Communications and Computer Systems, Operational Plans and Interoperability, and Force Structure Resources and Assessment.
  6. It is interesting to note that similar to the UK MOD's Equipment Capability organisation, the military requirements and force structuring directorate of the Joint Staff is organised according to military capability groupings rather than Service or environmental definitions. These include Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance, Combating Terrorism, Information Operations, Joint Readiness, Strategic Mobility and Sustainability, Regional Engagement/Presence, and Command and Control.
  7. The fourth component of the Departmental organisation is that of the Combatant Commands (European, Central, Southern, Pacific, Joint Forces, Transportation, Space, Special Operations, and Strategic Commands). Each combatant command is assigned forces that are required to be maintained at levels of operational readiness and to carry out operational missions. Combatant commanders do not report to the Chiefs of Staff, or the Military Department Secretaries, but through the Chairman the Joint Chiefs of Staff directly to the Secretary of Defense. The Military Departments are responsible for "raising, training and sustaining" forces assigned to the Combatant Commands.

  1. Strategic Defence Review Process Essay, http://www.mod.uk/issues/sdr/process.htm
  2. Ministry of Defence, The Strategic Defence Review: A New Chapter (Cm 5566 Vol. 1, July 2002).
  3. Barry Goldwarter Department of Defense Reorganization Act of 1986, 99th Congress, 2nd Session, HR 3622, S. 2295.)

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