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Congress forced special ops to unite
Separate commands
Before that, every service ran its own special operations: the Navy had the SEALs, the Air Force had the Air Commandos, and the Army had the Green Berets, the Rangers, and the Delta Force. Congress decided a joint force was needed. The special operations community resisted. Nobody wanted to be part of the Army, and the Army didn't want to be part of the Navy.
The payoff
It turned out to be the single best thing that ever happened to US Special Operations. A SEAL platoon could now work with an Air Force combat controller who was better at calling fires from aircraft, and with Army soldiers who knew how to call in artillery. Each part got better at its own job.
A military on the rise
The rest of the military saw the benefits and became joint as well. Through the 1980s came the Reagan buildup, congressional support, and new technology, so by 9/11 the military had gone from a force in decline after Vietnam to one on the rise. Fighting every day in Iraq and Afghanistan in a joint environment, against enemies who knew how to fight, made it better still.
How did Desert One push Congress to act?
Desert One was the failed April 1980 attempt to rescue American hostages in Iran. A helicopter collided with a transport aircraft at the staging site in the desert, and eight American servicemen died. A review panel led by Admiral James Holloway pointed to problems of command, planning, and coordination across the services. Congress passed the Nunn-Cohen Amendment in 1986, and the new command began operating in 1987.
Why did Grenada expose joint-force problems?
The 1983 invasion of Grenada, called Operation Urgent Fury, put units from the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force on one small island. Units from different services had trouble communicating with each other. The operation achieved its main aims, but its coordination problems fed into the Goldwater-Nichols Act of 1986. That law strengthened the authority of the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and of the combatant commanders over the separate services.
Why did special operations resist merging?
Each service had its own traditions, promotion paths, and budgets for its special units. A joint command meant sharing control and money with rivals. The 1986 legislation addressed the money by giving the new command its own budget line, called Major Force Program 11. That gave it authority to buy equipment for special operations directly.
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