# Combatant Command
**Aliases:** COCOM
**Entity class:** Joint military command institution
## Definition
A **combatant command** is a joint U.S. military command established by the President, with forces from two or more military departments and a broad continuing mission. Geographic and functional combatant commanders exercise authority assigned through the constitutional and statutory chain of command.
## Relationships
- **command chain:** [[wiki/President of the United States|President]] and [[wiki/Secretary of Defense|Secretary of Defense]].
- **supported by:** [[wiki/Joint Staff|Joint Staff]].
- **digital architecture:** [[wiki/CJADC2|CJADC2]], [[wiki/Open DAGIR|Open DAGIR]], [[wiki/Joint Warfighting Cloud Capability|JWCC]].
- **examples:** [[wiki/United States Northern Command|USNORTHCOM]] and [[wiki/United States Southern Command|USSOUTHCOM]].
## Sources / Provenance
- [DoD — Unified Combatant Commands](https://www.defense.gov/About/Combatant-Commands/)