Pentagon may eliminate geographic, functional COCOM designations

The Defense Department may move away from labeling combatant commands as geographic or functional, according to the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Gen. John Hyten said today at an Air Force Association event the department is "almost there" in determining how to categorize the COCOMs, adding that they will likely eliminate the designations and simply call each a combatant command. The change, he said, would require an update to the unified command plan.

Hyten, the former head of U.S. Strategic Command, said the reason for the change is fairly simple -- labeling a COCOM functional or geographic does not capture the full range of responsibilities a command performs.

The discussion comes as Defense Secretary Mark Esper is planning a series of COCOM reviews throughout this year to identify reforms that will shape the Pentagon's fiscal year 2022 budget request.