Interagency National Security Knowledge and Skills in the Department of Defense (Briefing Charts)

Section 1051 of the 2011 National Defense Authorization Act required the Department of Defense (DOD) to commission a study assessing the current state of interagency national security knowledge and skills of DOD civilian and military executives. IDA interviewed officials from organizations responsible for managing interagency education, training, and professional experiences, and a select number of general/flag officers (GO/FO) and members of the Senior Executive Service (SES), with varying degrees of interagency skills. IDA reviewed precepts of GO/FO promotion boards, analyzed templates of joint assignments, and examined official biographies to assess interagency education and professional experience based on keyword searches. IDA's findings highlight the lack of a parallel entity to the Joint Staff J-7 for civilian and SES interagency education. Unlike the value proposition regarding joint or enterprise knowledge and skills, interagency has not been articulated throughout DOD therefore there is little incentive for skill acquisition. Additionally, interagency topics do not feature prominently in DOD educational programs and only 3.6 percent of the joint executive billets provide opportunities outside DOD. Ultimately, IDA found that, while not well tracked within personnel systems, some executives appear to possess significant interagency knowledge and skills while many more lack any relevant experience.