This concise account of the evolution of Marine Corps staff organization is derived from official records and appropriate published historical works. It is published as a ready reference for those interested in the historical development of our modern Marine Corps staff organization and, in particular, the evolution of the staff at Headquarters Marine Corps. The final responsibility for the service of a command rests with its commander. If an organization is small and the scope of its activities limited, the commander can usually direct his organization and administer its affairs personally, with, perhaps, some routine clerical assistance. In the case of a larger military organization with a considerable range of functions, the commander brings together a group of people to provide him with evaluated information and recommendations for the best courses of action to follow. As the Marine Corps has grown in numbers in order to fulfill an increasing range and scope of responsibilities, the Commandant and his subordinate commanders have followed this latter thesis. When the Corps numbered less than 1,000 officers and enlisted men, it was possible for the Commandant, with but minimum assistance, to personally direct and administer its activities. Through the years, as the strength of the Marine Corps expanded to today's 240,000 men and women, it has been necessary that the staff assistance to the Commandant be correspondingly increased to help him direct and administer the Marine Corps in its world-wide responsibilities. This account of the evolution of Marine Corps staff organization, with emphasis on the development of the Headquarters staff, is published to show why and how the Marine Corps staff has grown from its 1798 infancy to its maturity of today.

Established during World War II to advise the President regarding the strategic direction of the armed forces of the United States, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) continued in existence after the war and, as military advisers and planners, have played a significant role in the development of national policy. Knowledge of JCS relations with the President, the National Security Council, and the Secretary of Defense in the years since World War II is essential to an understanding of their current work. An account of their activity in peacetime and during times of crisis provides, moreover, an important series of chapters in the military history of the United States. For these reasons, the Joint Chiefs of Staff directed that an official history be written for the record. Its value for instructional purposes, for the orientation of officers newly assigned to the JCS organization, and as a source of information for staff studies will be readily recognized. The series, The Joint Chiefs of Staff and National Policy, treats the activities of the Joint Chiefs of Staff since the close of World War II. Because of the nature of the activities of the Joint Chiefs of Staff as well as the sensitivity of the sources, the volumes of the series were originally prepared in classified form. Classification designations, in text and footnotes, are those that appeared in the original classified volume. Following review and declassification, the initial four volumes, covering the years 1945 to 1952 and the Korean War, were distributed in unclassified form within the Department of Defense and copies were deposited with the National Archives and Records Administration. These volumes are now being made available as official publications. Volume II describes JCS activities during the period 1947 to 1949 except for activities related to Indochina which are covered in a separate series. This volume is the work of Mr. Kenneth W. Condit of the Historical Division, Joint Secretariat; he developed the volume's concept and outline, performed the research, and wrote the chapters. The initial draft of Chapter 8 was prepared by Miss Judith A. Walters. Mr. William J. Tobin contributed to the production of Chapter 14. Final revision and historical editing proceeded under the supervision of the Chief, Histories Branch, Dr. Robert J. Watson. Resource constraints have prevented revision to reflect recent scholarship. Readers familiar with the present-day operations of the Joint Chiefs of Staff will note that the activities described in this volume reflect a somewhat different organization and set of procedures-those existing some years before the implementation of the Department of Defense Reorganization Act of 1958. As organized under the National Security Act of 1947, the Joint Staff had three main components: the Joint Strategic Plans Group, the Joint Intelligence Group, and the Joint Logistics Plans Group. At an organizational level above the three Joint Staff Groups were three joint committees composed of Service representatives (such as the Joint Strategic Plans Committee overseeing the work of the Joint Strategic Plans Group). The Joint Chiefs of Staff normally assigned tasks to one of the committees, which in turn called on its corresponding Joint Staff Group for a report. The resulting paper passed to the joint committee for review, amendment, and approval for return with instructions for revision) before being submitted to the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The JCS Committees and Groups that were established under the National Security Act of 1947 were direct successors of elements of the wartime JCS organization that had continued to function in the postwar period. The transition from old forms to new occurred during October 1947 and involved extensive changes in titles.

This concise account of the evoluation of Marine Corps staff organization is derived from official records and appropriate published historical works. It is published as a ready reference for those interested in the historical development of our modern Marine Corps staff organization and, in particular, the evolution of the staff at Headquarters Marine Corps.