Unified Command Plan

President Obama signed the new 2011 version Unified Command Plan on Wednesday, making several major changes to the roles of combatant commanders. The plan "is a key strategic document that establishes the missions, responsibilities, and geographic areas of responsibility for commanders of combatant commands," a Joint Staff spokesman tells Inside the Pentagon.

The new plan makes "significant" changes to the previous 2008 iteration of the plan, the spokesman said. The key changes include giving U.S. Northern Command responsibility to advocate for Arctic capabilities; codifying the president's approval to disestablish U.S. Joint Forces Command; expanding U.S. Strategic Command's responsibility for combating weapons of mass destruction and developing global missile defense concepts of operations; and giving U.S. Transportation Command responsibility for synchronizing planning of global distribution operations.