3.3 Military Command Structure & Combatant Commands

Combined Commands Versus Combatant Commands

The two terms sound alike and are separated by one paragraph in AFH 1, which is exactly why the exam pairs them.

Combined commands consist of two or more forces or agencies of two or more allies operating together. A combined command normally operates under the terms of a treaty, alliance, or bilateral agreement. AFH 1's examples: North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), Combined Forces Command Korea, and Allied Command Operations.

Unified combatant commands (CCMDs) are established by the President, assisted by the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff through the Secretary of Defense, and have a broad, continuing mission composed of forces from two or more military departments.

Two control rules follow:

• All units assigned or attached to a unified CCMD remain under the combatant command authority of the CCMD commander and the administrative control authority of the respective service component commander.
• Once assigned or attached, a force cannot be transferred except by authority of the Secretary of Defense, or under special procedures with approval of the President.

The Unified Command Plan

The Unified Command Plan (UCP) is a classified executive branch document prepared by the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. It assigns:

• Missions
• Planning, training, and operational responsibilities
• Geographic areas of responsibility to the combatant commands

The UCP "has a significant impact on how CCMDs are organized, trained, and resourced — areas over which Congress has constitutional authority," and it is reviewed and updated every two years. The two-year cycle and the preparer (Chairman, not SecDef) are both high-frequency items.

The 11 Combatant Commands

AFH 1 states there are currently 11 CCMDs, established by mission and responsibility based on either a geographic area of responsibility (AOR) or a function. Commanders with an AOR operate in clearly delineated physical and geographic boundaries established by the UCP and have a distinctive regional focus. Functional commands are based solely on military functions without respect to a specific geographic region, operate globally across geographic boundaries, and provide unique capabilities to other CCDRs and the Services.

Read the AFH 1 wording carefully on this point. The handbook says there are 11 CCMDs, then names six as having an AOR and four as functional, and describes USSPACECOM in its own paragraph without placing it in either list. On test day, answer what the handbook says: 11 total, with those six named as AOR commands and those four named as functional commands.

Headquarters You Are Most Likely to Confuse

• MacDill AFB, Florida hosts two CCMDs — USCENTCOM and USSOCOM.
• Stuttgart, Germany hosts two — USAFRICOM at Kelley Barracks and USEUCOM at Patch Barracks. The barracks names are the discriminator.
• Peterson AFB, Colorado hosts two — USNORTHCOM and USSPACECOM.

NORAD linkage: the Commander of USNORTHCOM is designated Commander of the U.S. Element, North American Aerospace Defense Command, and Commander of NORAD when a United States officer fills that role.

How the Air Force Presents Forces

In compliance with Title 10, United States Code, Armed Forces, and the Unified Command Plan, the Secretary of the Air Force, in accordance with SecDef direction, selects and assigns Air Force forces to Air Force Service Component Commands, each commanded by a Commander, Air Force Forces (COMAFFOR).

The COMAFFOR sits at the intersection of the two chains introduced in Section 5A:

Further detail lives in AFI 38-101, Manpower and Organization. A useful shorthand for the exam: OPCON is who tells the force what to do on the mission; ADCON is who mans, trains, and equips it. Items that assign ADCON to the combatant commander, or OPCON to the Secretary of the Air Force, invert the relationship.