The Pentagon will complete the disestablishment of US Joint Forces Command by August and conclude all associated personnel shifts by March 2012, announced Army Gen. Raymond Odierno, JFCOM’s commander. “We will retain the most critical functions and expertise for the joint warfighter in an organization flattened for agility and efficiency,” said Odierno, stressing that an entirely “different organization” will carry out the mission. The new organization will remain in Norfolk, Va., with a two-star general at the helm. Its workforce will comprise about 2,425 personnel. That’s a 49 percent reduction from JFCOM’s current employee roll of 4,700. DOD will cut mostly civilian contract workers. Odierno said the Joint Staff will assume most of JFCOM’s role to ensure there’s no loss in “the momentum and gains in jointness” within US and NATO forces, particularly NATO’s Allied Command Transformation. JFCOM now has 30 days to produce the detailed transition plan. (AFPS report by Cheryl Pellerin)
Members of the House Armed Services Committee say the AIM-260 Joint Advanced Tactical Missile program has been set back three months due to the ongoing government shutdown. The comment is noteworthy because the JATM's status has been kept tightly under wraps.
