A Functionally Aligned and Service-Agnostic U.S. Military: an Evolution of the Department of Defense Force Structure

Just as the post-World War II international order catalyzed the 1947 National Security Act, and the criticality of joint interoperability motivated the 1986 Goldwater-Nichols Department of Defense Reorganization Act, the pivot to strategic competition during fiscal constraints should inspire institutional evolution. This thesis examines whether a reorganization of the Department of Defense (DOD) into a functionally aligned, service-agnostic military could reduce inefficient overhead in budget and personnel, as well as capability redundancies experienced among services. This analysis used system dynamics modeling and simulation to study the DOD as a complex adaptive system against three variables: time, money, and personnel. Assuming the U.S. enters two wars over the next 70-year period, this research found that 1) adopting a functionally aligned, service-agnostic force structure with a 10 percent reduction in overhead prior to the first war could potentially save $24.35 trillion after the second war; and 2) this realignment might decrease the need from a projected 13 million active-duty force size across all services at the drawdown from the second war to a forecasted 1.3 million personnel Inherently Joint Force at the same time period. Further recommended research includes the continued use of systems modeling that incorporates more robust capability and materiel analysis, in order to investigate benefits of a functionally aligned service-agnostic U.S. military force structure.