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 [http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode10/usc_sec_10_00000154----000-.html] 10 USC 154. Vice Chairman] 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 . 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 UnitedStatesCode|10|153 and may also perform other duties that the President, the Chairman, or the Secretary of Defense prescribes.

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 [ [http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode10/usc_sec_10_00000162----000-.html] 10 USC 162. Combatant commands: assigned forces; chain of command] . 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 .

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. [Army Regulation 840-10, paragraph 3-14 (2 Apr. 1992).]

Chronological list

* * - Later served as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs

Notes

External links

* [http://www.jcs.mil/vice_chairman/vice_chairman_resp.html Official site]