US Code

Public Law 119-73 (01/23/2026)

10 U.S.C. § 162

Combatant commands: assigned forces; chain of command

(a)

Assignment of Forces .—

(1)
As directed by the Secretary of Defense, the Secretaries of the military departments shall assign specified forces under their jurisdiction to unified and specified combatant commands or to the United States element of the North American Aerospace Defense Command to perform missions assigned to those commands. The Secretary of Defense shall ensure that such assignments are consistent with the force structure prescribed by the President for each combatant command.
(2)
A force not assigned to a combatant command or to the United States element of the North American Aerospace Defense Command under paragraph (1) shall remain assigned to the military department concerned for carrying out the responsibilities of the Secretary of the military department concerned as specified in section 7013, 8013, or 9013 of this title, as applicable.
(3)
A force assigned to a combatant command or to the United States element of the North American Aerospace Defense Command under this section may be transferred from the command to which it is assigned only—
(A)
by authority of the Secretary of Defense; and
(B)
under procedures prescribed by the Secretary and approved by the President.
(4)
Except as otherwise directed by the Secretary of Defense, all forces assigned to a unified combatant command shall be under the command of the commander of that command. The preceding sentence applies to forces assigned to a specified combatant command only as prescribed by the Secretary of Defense.
(b)

Chain of Command .—

Unless otherwise directed by the President, the chain of command to a unified or specified combatant command runs—
(1)
from the President to the Secretary of Defense; and
(2)
from the Secretary of Defense to the commander of the combatant command.

Pub. L. 99–433, title II, § 211(a)100 Stat. 1012Pub. L. 100–180, div. A, title XIII, § 1313101 Stat. 1175Pub. L. 100–456, div. A, title VII, § 711102 Stat. 1997Pub. L. 104–201, div. A, title X, § 1073(a)110 Stat. 2657Pub. L. 114–328, div. A, title IX, § 924130 Stat. 2358Pub. L. 115–91, div. A, title X, § 1081(a)(9)131 Stat. 1594Pub. L. 115–232, div. A, title VIII, § 809(a)132 Stat. 1840(Added , , ; amended , , ; , , ; , , ; , , ; , , ; , , .)

Editorial Notes

Amendments

Pub. L. 115–2322018—Subsec. (a)(2). substituted “section 7013, 8013, or 9013” for “section 3013, 5013, or 8013”.

Pub. L. 115–912017—Subsec. (a)(4). struck out comma after “command of”.

Pub. L. 114–328, § 924(1)2016—Subsec. (a)(1). , substituted “As directed by the Secretary of Defense” for “Except as provided in paragraph (2)” and “specified forces” for “all forces” and struck out “Such assignments shall be made as directed by the Secretary of Defense, including direction as to the command to which forces are to be assigned.” before “The Secretary of Defense”.

Pub. L. 114–328, § 924(2)Subsec. (a)(2). , added par. (2) and struck out former par. (2) which read as follows: “Except as otherwise directed by the Secretary of Defense, forces to be assigned by the Secretaries of the military departments to the combatant commands or to the United States element of the North American Aerospace Defense Command under paragraph (1) do not include forces assigned to carry out functions of the Secretary of a military department listed in sections 3013(b), 5013(b), and 8013(b) of this title or forces assigned to multinational peacekeeping organizations.”

Pub. L. 114–328, § 924(3)(B)Subsec. (a)(4). , struck out “assigned to, and” before “under the command”.

Pub. L. 114–328, § 924(3)(A), which directed striking out “operating with the geographic area”, was executed by striking out “operating within the geographic area” after “all forces” to reflect the probable intent of Congress.

Pub. L. 104–2011996—Subsec. (a)(1) to (3). substituted “North American Aerospace Defense Command” for “North American Air Defense Command”.

Pub. L. 100–4561988—Subsec. (a)(1) to (3). inserted “or to the United States element of the North American Air Defense Command”.

Pub. L. 100–1801987—Subsec. (a)(2). inserted before period at end “or forces assigned to multinational peacekeeping organizations”.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date of 2018 Amendment

Pub. L. 115–232section 800 of Pub. L. 115–232section 3001 of this titleAmendment by effective , with provision for the coordination of amendments and special rule for certain redesignations, see , set out as a note preceding .

Implementation of Assignment of Forces to Combatant Commands

Pub. L. 99–433, title II, § 214(a)100 Stat. 1018section 162(a) of this title, , , provided that shall be implemented not later than 90 days after .