ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the relationship between civil and military authority. Operation Just Cause, the December 1989 invasion of Panama, and its attendant, post-conflict operation, Promote Liberty, were the result of command and control structure significantly modified by the 1986 Goldwater-Nichols Department of Defense Reorganization Act. The chapter summarizes unity of effort in Just Cause and Promote Liberty as being a significant improvement over what had gone before in the joint arena. Unity of effort in and during the Gulf War had a significant advantage over Panama in that the principal strategic objectives were relatively clear and the end state reasonably well defined. This was done in a series of policy pronouncements, United Nations Security Council resolutions, and the campaign plan and operations plans of US Central Command and the coalition. Agreements on objectives and end states are necessary conditions for unity of effort.
