History of the Standing Joint Force Headquarters for Elimination (SJFHQ-E): No More Ad Hoc

The Standing Joint Force Headquarters for Elimination SJFHQ-E is a relatively new construct to the Department of Defense DOD in an attempt to prevent an ad hoc development of a Joint force capable of executing the combating weapons of mass destruction CWMD mission. The SJFHQ-E can trace its purpose back to the historical ALSOS mission in World War II. For the first time since WWII, DOD has attempted to develop a standing unit for the sole purpose of commanding and controlling the elimination of WMD on the battlefield. This monograph captures the difficulties in creating a specialized, niche joint force headquarters during ongoing combat operations from 2006-2013. Given the proximity in the past decade to the development of the organization, a large portion of this monograph relies on the interviews conducted with select leadership and planning staff members across DOD, Department of the Army, Department of the Navy, and Defense Threat Reduction Agency DTRA. The interviews span across critical points of development of theory, doctrine, and development from 2002 to 2013.