The Eighties in America - Salem Press (2009)

Previously, this position was basically a figurehead
responsible for formal communications between
the Joint Chiefs and the secretary of defense or
sometimes the president. Under the Goldwater-
Nichols Act, the chairman was designated as the
principal military adviser to the president. While
the leaders of the various branches of the military
might still give advice, their role was clearly subordi-
nated to that of the chairman.
The same type of unified command structure was
also established for each of the various areas of mili-
tary operation. Thus, U.S. troops throughout the
world were assigned regional commanders. Within
each region, one person became responsible for co-
ordinating all U.S. military actions, regardless of the
branches of service involved. As at the top level, the
new structure replaced one in which each region
had had separate commanders for each branch of
the armed forces, with no clear chain of command
among the branches. The new structure unified not
only command and control but also planning, as the
unified regional commanders assumed responsibil-
ity for making contingency plans to respond to any
possible situation with their regions.
As an outgrowth of the mandate to unify plan-
ning, the procurement and distribution of supplies
were also unified. It was hoped that this development
would reduce competition among the branches, as
resources would be allocated to whichever units
needed them most, regardless of branch, and new
technologies would be made available to all military
branches, regardless of which brand had funded
their development.

Impact While the 1983 U.S. invasion of Grenada
had been successful, it also produced evidence of a
significant lack of coordination among the armed
forces that concerned leaders in Washington. The
Goldwater-Nichols Act was one of the responses to
this situation. It sought to eliminate potential prob-
lems in the command structure before the United
States became embroiled in a more serious conflict.
By the beginning of the 1990’s, the new structure
was in place, and it directly affected the military op-
erations of that decade, most notably the Persian
Gulf War.

Further Reading
Lederman, Gordon Nathaniel.Reorganizing the Joint
Chiefs of Staff: The Goldwater-Nichols Act of 1986.
Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1999.

Locher, James R.Victor y on the Potomac: The Goldwater-

Nichols Act Unifies the Pentagon.College Station:

Texas A&M University Press, 2004.

Donald A. Watt

See also Cold War; Grenada invasion; Iranian hos-

tage crisis; Military spending; Weinberger, Caspar.

Golf

Definition Professional and amateur sport

The 1980’s was the most important growth decade for the

sport of golf.

Researchers who analyze golf demographics and the

golf industry have recognized the decade of the

1980’s as a time of important growth and develop-

ment for the sport. The post-World War II, baby-

boom generation made golf a very popular recre-

ational sport, spent large sums of money on newly

developed equipment, and drove an expansion in

the number of U.S. golf-course facilities. Americans

temporarily had a greater amount of leisure time,

and the improving American economy resulted in

more disposable income being available for popular

leisure-time activities such as golf. According to the

National Golf Foundation, the number of American

golfers increased from fourteen million in the 1970’s

to seventeen million in the mid-1980’s, and it contin-

ued to grow steadily thereafter.

Golf Clubs During the 1980’s, the design and con-

struction of golf clubs were significantly improved.

Using principles of engineering and physics, golf-

club manufacturers designed some clubs for “game

improvement” (the ability of a club to compensate

for a golfer’s swing error by increasing the accuracy

and distance of a ball’s flight despite a poor swing).

The primary characteristics of these new clubs were

perimeter weighting and a larger “sweet spot” on the

club face, a lower center of gravity of the club head,

and improvements to the materials and flex charac-

teristics of the club shaft.

In 1988, a costly lawsuit was filed against the offi-

cial rules organization, the United States Golf Asso-

ciation (USGA), by Karsten Manufacturing, which

made Ping clubs. The square grooves on the Ping

club face were so effective at increasing ball under-

spin and ball flight accuracy that the USGA believed

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Golf The Eighties in America