Goldwater-Nichols Act Part II is Needed

This post probably won't make sense unless you're a veteran or have dealt with the Armed Forces.

The Goldwater-Nichols Act of 1986 reorganized the armed forces in an attempt to quell inter-service rivalry. You can read about it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goldwater-Nichols_Act . Basically, the result is that you had a General Schwarzkopf in charge of all forces (Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Foreign) in his area to free Kuwait. He had command & control and could assign the right force to do the right task. The buck stopped with him.

This act solved many severe operational problems. The four services now play well together when doing operations, BUT what a pain it can be when a person in a joint operation (or school) still needs administrative actions from each service. We all wear different uniforms (with uniform buying needs), we all have different paperwork for the same stuff (i.e. leave)... some is web-based and some is still on paper. We all have different computer systems with different email needs. And, of course, we all have different comm systems. We've made great strides in the comm world, but there is still room for improvement. All of this can create unnecessary chaos when setting up and executing an operation.

Here's a solution proposed to me from an Army friend. A Goldwater-Nichols Act Part II would create the United States Defense Forces. We would still have an Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, and Coast Guard. We could still have our annual fights over budget items. Here's the change: We would all wear the same utility uniform (I prefer the Army's Multi-cam), while keeping our specialized ones. All our admin troops would go to the same school and learn the same systems. A form is a form is a form, no matter what service, the same form would do the same thing and any admin person from any service could process the needs of somebody in a different service. All our systems would talk to one another (you can't even get that within the Army). Joint operations would truly be joint.

There are a million things that could be standardized while still keeping service identity and tradition. I believe that once the painful part is ironed out, this standardization would complete the work started by the Goldwater-Nichols Act of 1986 and joint life would be much easier for all of us in the military.

Thoughts?