Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

All you want to know about Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

Joint Chiefs of Staff insignia

Positional color of the
Vice Chairman of the
Joint Chiefs of Staff

General James Cartwright, USMC
8^th Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

The Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (VJCS) is by law the second highest ranking military officer overall in the United States Armed Forces ^[1] ranking just below the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The Vice Chairman outranks all respective heads of each service branch, with the exception of the Chairman, but does not have command authority over them or their service branches ^[1]. The position of VJCS was created by the Goldwater-Nichols Act of 1986 to compliment the CJCS as well as to delegate some of the Chairman's responsibilities to. In the absence of the Chairman, the Vice Chairman presides over the meetings of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and all other duties prescribed under 10 U.S.C. § 153 and may also perform other duties that the President, the Chairman, or the Secretary of Defense prescribes^[1].

Although the office of Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is considered to be very important and highly prestigious, neither the Vice Chairman nor the Joint Chiefs of Staff as a body have any command authority over combatant forces. The chain of command runs from the President to the Secretary of Defense directly to the commanders of the Unified Combatant Commands ^[2]. The VJCS is nominated by the President and must be confirmed via majority vote by the Senate. By law, the VJCS is appointed as a four-star general or admiral ^[1].

The positional color (flag) of the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is white with a diagonal medium blue strip from upper hoist to lower fly. Centered on the flag is an American bald eagle with wings spread horizontally, in proper colors. The talons grasp three crossed arrows. A shield with blue chief and thirteen red and white stripes is on the eagle’s breast. Diagonally, from upper fly to lower hoist are four five-pointed stars, medium blue on the white, two above the eagle, and two below. The fringe is yellow; the cord and tassels are medium blue and white. The design was approved by Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger on 20 January 1987.^[3]

Chronological list

	Name	Branch	Term began	Term ended
1.	Gen Robert T. Herres	USAF	February 6, 1987	February 28, 1990
2.	ADM David E. Jeremiah	USN	March 1, 1990	February 28, 1994
3.	ADM William "Bill" Owens	USN	March 1, 1994	February 27, 1996
4.	Gen Joseph Ralston	USAF	March 1, 1996	February 29, 2000
5.	Gen Richard Myers*	USAF	February 29, 2000	October 1, 2001
6.	Gen Peter Pace*	USMC	October 1, 2001	August 12, 2005
7.	ADM Edmund Giambastiani	USN	August 12, 2005	July 27, 2007
8.	Gen James Cartwright	USMC	September 2, 2007

* - Later served as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs

Notes

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d [1] 10 USC 154. Vice Chairman
^ [2] 10 USC 162. Combatant commands: assigned forces; chain of command
^ Army Regulation 840-10, paragraph 3-14 (2 Apr. 1992).

External links

Official site

v • d • e United States Joint Chiefs of Staff

Mullen (Chairman) • Cartwright (Vice-Chairman) Casey (Army) • Roughead (Navy) • Conway (Marine Corps) • Schwartz (Air Force) vacant (Senior Enlisted Advisor)