Armed Forces Unification and the Pentagon Officer

THIS paper reports some of the demands that have been placed upon military officers who are developing defense policies within a partially unified defense establishment. Many of the published studies of unification are concerned with organizational issues such as the appropriate functions of the Secretary of Defense or the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The present study, in contrast, examines the views that military officers have expressed about the particular requirements and the relative attractiveness of positions in joint, as compared with service, organizations. It discusses organizational distinctions to provide background for an understanding of officers' attitudes. The paper is based on information secured by the authors in July, 1954, in personal interviews and in responses to a self-administered questionnaire completed by a sample of approximately 550 officers assigned to the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Joint Staff, and each of the three service headquarters.l

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