<P> Following the Goldwater--Nichols Act in 1986, the Joint Chiefs of Staff do not have operational command authority, either individually or collectively, as the chain of command goes from the President to the Secretary of Defense, and from the Secretary of Defense to the Commanders of the Combatant Commands . Goldwater--Nichols also created the office of Vice Chairman, and the Chairman is now designated as the principal military adviser to the Secretary of Defense, the Homeland Security Council, the National Security Council and the President . </P> <P> The Joint Staff (JS) is a headquarters staff in the Pentagon, composed of personnel from each of the five armed services, that assists the Chairman and the Vice Chairman in discharging their responsibilities and is managed by the Director of the Joint Staff (DJS), who is a lieutenant general or Navy vice admiral . </P> <P> After the 1986 reorganization of the military undertaken by the Goldwater - Nichols Act, the Joint Chiefs of Staff does not have operational command of U.S. military forces . Responsibility for conducting military operations goes from the President to the Secretary of Defense directly to the commanders of the Unified Combatant Commands and thus bypasses the Joint Chiefs of Staff completely . </P> <P> Today, their primary responsibility is to ensure the personnel readiness, policy, planning and training of their respective military services for the combatant commanders to utilize . The Joint Chiefs of Staff also act in a military advisory capacity for the President of the United States and the Secretary of Defense . In addition, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff acts as the chief military advisor to the President and the Secretary of Defense . In this strictly advisory role, the Joint Chiefs constitute the second - highest deliberatory body for military policy, after the National Security Council and the Homeland Security Council, which includes the President and other officials besides the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs . </P>

Who is the highest ranking military officer today