---
aliases:
- JCS
category: U.S. Government
created: 2026-06-13
location: Arlington, Virginia
start: 1942
summary: The Joint Chiefs of Staff are the senior uniformed leaders of the U.S. armed
  forces who advise the president and secretary of defense, a body whose Cold War
  proposals included the 1962 Operation Northwoods plan for staged provocations against
  Cuba.
tags:
- Organization
- USGovernment
- Military
- ColdWar
title: Joint Chiefs of Staff
updated: 2026-06-13
---

The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) are the body of senior uniformed leaders of the [United States](/places/united-states/) armed forces who serve as the principal military advisers to the president, the [National Security Council](/organizations/national-security-council/), and the secretary of defense. Formed during [World War II](/events/world-war-ii/) and given statutory basis by the National Security Act of 1947, the JCS comprise a chairman, a vice chairman, and the chiefs of the military services.[^1]

### Operation Northwoods

In March 1962 the Joint Chiefs, under Chairman [Lyman Lemnitzer](/people/lyman-lemnitzer/), approved and forwarded to Secretary of Defense [Robert S. McNamara](/people/robert-s-mcnamara/) a plan code-named Operation Northwoods, which proposed manufacturing pretexts for war with [Cuba](/places/cuba/), including staged terrorist attacks on American soil and the faked shoot-down of civilian aircraft to be blamed on the [Castro](/people/fidel-castro/) government. The civilian leadership rejected the plan, and it remained classified until its release in 1997 through the [Kennedy](/people/john-f-kennedy/) Assassination Records Review Board.[^2]

### Counterinsurgency Oversight

Through the Cold War the JCS sat at the center of covert-action oversight, providing military representation on the interagency bodies that supervised counterinsurgency policy and reviewed [CIA](/organizations/central-intelligence-agency/) paramilitary operations.[^1]

[^1]: Records of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, Record Group 218, U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
[^2]: Bamford, James. *Body of Secrets: Anatomy of the Ultra-Secret National Security Agency*. Doubleday, 2001, Chapter 2 (reproducing JCS memorandum 1969/321, 13 March 1962).