Naval postgraduate school monterey, california thesis

Chief of Staff
•
Administration 
•
Intelligence
•
Planners
•
Communications
•
Logistics
•
Weather
JCS/Spec Ops Div 
(JCS/SOD)
President
Secretary of Defense
SECDEF
Chairman of Joint Chiefs
of Staff (CJCS)
Commander Joint Task 
Force (COMJTF)
Advisers
•
Iran Specialists
•
CIA
•
DIA
•
NSA
•
DCA
Pu
rp
os
e / 
M
iss
io
n
Government
Politics
Technology
Culture
Weather
Human Resources
USAF CCT
Figure 36.
Author’s Representation of Elements and Compartmentalization of JTF 1-
79 at DESERT ONE 
g. 
Diversity of JTF 1-79 
The diversity of an organization refers to the number of markets it has to 
satisfy, that is, how many different types of products or services the organization 
provides.
The organization faced with a single integrated market simply cannot split 
itself into autonomous divisions; the one with distinct markets, however, 
has an incentive to create a unit to deal with each (Mintzberg, 1993, p. 
225).
Joint Task Force 1-79 was primarily designed to satisfy one specific 
market. In other words, it had one mission: to develop a hostage rescue plan that could 
be executed successfully at a moment’s notice to save the lives of the hostages. JTF 1-79 
had a single purpose and mission—prepare a plan and train a force to rescue the 
American citizens illegally held in Iran, and be prepared to execute it on order 
(Lennahan, R., 1998, p. 39). 

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138 
The overall goal for an organization is often called the mission—the 
organization’s reason for existence. The mission describes the 
organization’s vision, its shared values and beliefs, and its reason for 
being (Daft, 1998, p.48) 
The military option to rescue the hostages was a last resort for the Carter 
Administration. All diplomatic efforts had been attempted with no positive outcome; the 
Iranian oil embargo, the freezing of Iranian assets in American banks, and multiple 
negotiations between governments had all failed. While the diversity for missions for 
JTF 1-79 was very low, the diversity of the supporting tasks to accomplish this mission 
was very complex and high. Each element of the raiding force had a specific essential 
task within the operation in support of the overall mission. Critical to the organization 
and the success of these tasks throughout the phases of the operation was the 
synchronization of all elements within the JTF, coming together at a specific place and 
time in Tehran 600 miles away from their staging areas. The high diversity of tasks, the 
complexity of technology, and the high levels of uncertainty caused by the 
interdependence of elements in the raiding force, made synchronization impossible. It is 
amazing that the whole force (minus two helicopters) still managed to assemble at 
DESERT ONE. This high diversity of supporting tasks to accomplish the main mission 
can best be understood by looking at the core technology of the JTF.