Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Joe Dunford proposed reforms to how the joint staff operates, including possible cuts to staff.

Gen. Dunford told an audience at an event hosted by the Center for a New American Security that reforms could include voluntary staff downsizing, and potential changes of responsibilities between staffers, including the Unified Command Plan, which governs the responsibilities of combatant units. Defense News reports cuts to the staff may occur as soon as 2016.

"I do think that some of the discussions about the joint staff is probably fair," Dunford told the audience. "The joint staff, over time for a variety of reasons, has begun to do things that I think we can probably walk away from."

Dunford's reform proposals come as the chairman also proposes the creation of new staff to assist the Pentagon in meeting transnational threats. According to Dunford, that staff would provide what he calls a "common operational picture" to help Defense Secretary Ash Carter make military decisions involving multiple regions simultaneously, Defense One reports.

"I do believe that there needs to be a staff that has a perspective of all the combatant commanders," Dunford said.