The United States Joint Chiefs of Staff is an organization composed of the chiefs of the United States Air Force, Navy, Army, and National Guard. Its primary function is to provide top military consultation services to the President and Secretary of Defense of the United States.
This organization was established by Franklin D. Roosevelt during World War II, initially to formulate joint operational plans with the United Kingdom's Joint Staff Committee, as the United States did not have an institution to coordinate and command the armed forces at that time.
The predecessor of the Joint Chiefs of Staff was the Army and Navy Joint Committee. Interestingly, it was established during the presidency of Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt's uncle, and one could say these two relatives together crafted the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
The system was originally established to reconcile conflicts between the branches of the U.S. military and facilitate coordinated operations among them.
