The U.S. Department of Defense is emphasizing the need for officers to operate in joint, interagency and coalition environments by introducing a new officer qualification and new rules for reaching flag officer status. The revamped system adjusts a former program by making it more relevant for today’s operations.

Under the Joint Qualification System (JQS), U.S. military officers will be able to earn the distinction of joint qualified officer. This new title replaces the former designation of joint specialty officer. According to Rear Adm. Donna L. Crisp, USN, director for manpower and personnel, Joint Staff, Washington, D.C., the name change represents the mindset that a joint qualified officer is a lifelong learning continuum, not a one- or two-tour specialty. All military members who currently hold the title joint specialty officer will be redesignated as joint qualified officers. Only 8 percent of officers are joint specialty officers.

The JQS and new officer designation introduce several adjustments to the old way of doing business, and demonstrate how missions have changed in recent years. “The JQS is important for today’s environment because we work as a joint force,” Adm. Crisp explains. “In order for us to be a more effective force we find it requires us to understand each other.” The term joint in this program encompasses work with all U.S. military branches, coalition partners, interagency partners and nongovernmental agencies.

The JQS falls under the U.S. Secretary of Defense, specifically the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel Readiness; the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is responsible for implementing the policy. Congress asked the Secretary of Defense to establish the program. To become joint qualified officers, officers must be recommended by the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs to the Secretary of Defense. 

The JQS builds on the Goldwater-Nichols Act of 1986 under which the Defense Department was reorganized and the services mandated to integrate jointness. To comply with Goldwater-Nichols and reach a joint designation, officers needed joint military education and a joint assignment. Those requirements remain in place, but under the JQS, Congress has allowed the Defense Department to expand the capability of earning joint qualified officer status to those who have joint experiences not on the joint duty assignment list. Adm. Crisp shares that the military has a standard mode of operation under the Act, but also has so many joint task forces (JTFs), joint exercises and other opportunities for joint work that Congress now supports awarding credit for those experiences.

Each service will recommend individuals eligible for the joint qualified officer designation to the chairman. A board with representatives from every military branch, the Secretary of Defense and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff will review all the packages from officers seeking the title, and then the board will recommend the number of points they should receive based on length of assignment and duty location. For example, under this weighted system, time spent serving in a joint combat environment will count more than noncombat work. Officers serving in combat can expect to receive three points for each month spent in the environment. Officers working on a JTF noncombat humanitarian mission receive two points for each month, and officers working with a staff or combatant commander will receive one point per month. "Congress has allowed us to provide an intensity factor for joint experiences gained in a combat environment where the operational tempo is much higher," Adm. Crisp says.

Another difference between JQS and Goldwater-Nichols is the ability to earn joint experience and then receive joint education, or vice versa, to qualify for the joint qualified officer title. Under the Act, education had to be completed first. Despite the change, the admiral explains that most commanders prefer for officers to receive education, then enter the operational environment.

The JQS affects all officers aiming to reach flag officer rank. Starting with the fiscal year 2009 promotions, all officers must have a joint qualified officer status to be promoted to flag officer, or apply for waivers. Boards for that promotion cycle have already begun to meet. Any officers eligible for such promotions in the next several months should reach out to their services and document their joint experiences. Adm. Crisp urges all officers who are being considered for promotion to flag officer to talk to their assignment officers and detailers to guarantee their records and experiences are in order. JQS officials are holding two boards to ensure all officers who apply are reviewed.

All officers, regardless of rank, should be documenting their joint experiences every year. They can do so by going directly to their service and outlining their work history, or starting in October they can go online and use the automated system.