ating similar incentives for Defense Acquisition Workforce innovation can produce similar positive results. Goldwater-Nichols was passed by Congress in response to a series of military mishaps and disasters attrib- uted to a lack of coordination between U.S. military branches. It was the first revision of U.S. defense structures and processes since the National Security Act of 1947, which established the DoD, National Security Council, and the CIA. Congress passed the law despite opposition from the Secretary of Defense and the chiefs of the four military armed services. Joint Professional Military Educa- tion (JPME) under Goldwater-Nichols became and remains today a key element in ensuring that the now multi-Service, or joint, structures and processes are implemented and func- tion as intended. In the nearly four decades since passage of Goldwater- Nichols, many studies and investiga- tions by Congress, think tanks, and in- dependent researchers all have found that the results of the law have been extremely positive and produced the most professional and effective mili- tary in U.S. history. The congressional authors of Gold- water-Nichols consciously created and implemented the incentive of making promotion to flag or general officer rank (more recently reaching down to the 0-5 level) contingent on com- pleting an accredited JPME program. A House panel chaired by Rep. Ike Skelton of Missouri in 1987–1989 in- vestigated implementation of JPME at the major professional military educational institutions, developed a rigorous methodology of periodic de- tailed investigations, and provided the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (CJCS) with recommended accredita- tion standards. Goldwater-Nichols was implemen- ted during the Cold War. The Global War on Terror ensued after Sept. 11, 2001, and subsequently was replaced by a global security environment in which, for the first time since the Cold War, the United States again confronts
The Goldwater-Nichols Depart- ment of Defense Reorganization Act of 1986 changed the structures and processes of U.S. national security and the culture of the officer corps. In requiring that military personnel
receive education in “jointness” and serve in joint billets to qualify for promotion to flag or general officer, Goldwater-Nichols intentionally cre- ated incentives for jointness and serv- ing with other military branches. Cre-
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