Call Sign Chaos

by Jim Mattis

In the spring of 2010, I was in the Secretary of Defense’s conference room for a budget meeting. Sitting at the long mahogany table with Secretary Gates and Admiral Mullen were the Joint Chiefs and my fellow combatant commanders. Secretary Gates’s message was that we had to take cuts in lower-priority areas so we could maintain readiness while investing now for the future. The combatant commanders had felt the budget pain of two wars being fought in the Middle East, with DoD cutting back on support everywhere else. Yet our treaty obligations had not been reduced, even as our forces were being cut back. The services were providing forces to our current wars, but they were also responsible for anticipating and preparing for threats coming over the horizon. In effect, we were mortgaging our future. Secretary Gates and our Joint Chiefs were determined to solve the shortfall. We had to free up funds. After several hours of discussion, the lack of good options was apparent. I listened attentively, not wanting to add my gripes to the litany already heard. I got up to get a Coke in the back of the room, where I stood listening. I thought for a few seconds and decided, What the hell. I took a napkin and scribbled on it: Disband JFCOM—Mattis. As I walked past Admiral Mullen, I put the crumpled napkin down so he would see it. When he finished speaking, he unwrapped the napkin and raised his eyebrows. Are you serious? I nodded, and Mike nodded back. A major command eliminated? Hundred...