Washington (CNN) In his first six months in office, President Donald Trump has overseen a steady transfer of power from the White House to the Pentagon, handing off several warfighting authorities that previously rested in his hands -- and those of past presidents of both parties -- to the Pentagon and the commanders overseeing the US' military campaigns.

The moves are intended to empower the military at a tactical level, bolstering the US' intensifying fight against ISIS and al-Qaeda-linked terrorist groups to praise from several current and former military officials.

But those efforts have also raised concerns about whether Trump expects to face the same level of accountability for military decisions he has kicked down to the Pentagon and have drawn attention to the inherent risks of downsizing the White House's role in overseeing the US' escalating military campaign against ISIS and al-Qaeda and its offshoots.

Trump's most significant step in this direction came earlier this month when he empowered Defense Secretary James Mattis, a recently retired four-star general, to set troop levels in Afghanistan.

The Pentagon and the White House have downplayed the move by noting that Mattis can only act within the guardrails of the current US strategy in that country. But the move effectively empowers Mattis to send thousands more US troops into the warzone without the commander in chief's signoff for the first time in a 16-year war that has spanned three presidents.

In Yemen and Somalia, Trump has given US commanders waging the fight against terrorist groups there more freedom to launch raids and offensive airstrikes without the White House's OK by designating provinces in both countries as "areas of active hostilities," leading to a marked uptick in airstrikes in Yemen.

In Iraq and Syria, the President has also granted the Pentagon more freedom to manage troop levels.

Meanwhile, the White House's National Security Council -- which some at the Pentagon criticized as overbearing in the Obama administration -- has seen its power diminished, leaving Pentagon officials to describe a more streamlined decision-making process with fewer White House-crafted hoops to jump through on some military decisions.

The CIA, too, has been empowered by Trump, regaining the authority to conduct drone strikes against suspected terrorists -- actions President Barack Obama chose to personally authorize via the military.

Photos: Afghanistan: America's longest war A US soldier puts a blanket on a detainee during a mission in southeast Afghanistan in 2004. American troops went to fight in Afghanistan following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The combat mission, code-named Operation Enduring Freedom, lasted for 13 years until being brought to an end in December 2014. Thousands of American troops are still in the country, however, as part of the NATO effort to train and advise Afghan security forces. Some US forces are also carrying out counterterrorism missions in the country. Hide Caption 1 of 40 Photos: Afghanistan: America's longest war In this image taken from video, US President George W. Bush addresses the nation from the White House on October 7, 2001. He announced that US and British forces had begun airstrikes on Taliban and al Qaeda targets in Afghanistan. The United States linked the Sept. 11 attacks to al Qaeda, a group that operated under the protection of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. The military operation was launched to stop the Taliban from providing a safe haven to al Qaeda and to stop al Qaeda's use of Afghanistan as a base for terrorist activities. Hide Caption 2 of 40 Photos: Afghanistan: America's longest war Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden is seen at an undisclosed location in this television image broadcast on October 7, 2001. Bin Laden praised God for the Sept. 11 attacks and swore America "will never dream of security" until "the infidel's armies leave the land of Muhammad." Hide Caption 3 of 40 Photos: Afghanistan: America's longest war Soldiers with the Afghan Northern Alliance ride in a truck on October 19, 2001. They were opposition forces allied with the United States in its fight against the Taliban. Hide Caption 4 of 40 Photos: Afghanistan: America's longest war An aerial photo, released by the US Department of Defense on October 31, 2001, shows damage to a reported terrorist training camp in Afghanistan. US planes bombed the Taliban front line north of the Afghan capital of Kabul. Hide Caption 5 of 40 Photos: Afghanistan: America's longest war US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, right, speaks to the press during a Pentagon briefing on November 6, 2001. Rumsfeld said the United States had more than doubled the number of its troops based in Afghanistan. Other countries also contributed troops to the coalition. Hide Caption 6 of 40 Photos: Afghanistan: America's longest war Afghan refugees reach for bags of rice and sugar being handed out by a local aid organization near Chaman, Pakistan, on December 4, 2001. Tens of thousands of Afghans had crossed the border since the 9/11 attacks. Hide Caption 7 of 40 Photos: Afghanistan: America's longest war Al Qaeda prisoners are held in Agom, Afghanistan, on December 17, 2001. Afghan militia leaders declared victory in the battle of Tora Bora and claimed to have captured al Qaeda's last base. Hide Caption 8 of 40 Photos: Afghanistan: America's longest war A Northern Alliance fighter bursts into laughter as US planes strike a Taliban position near Tora Bora, Afghanistan, in December 2001. Hide Caption 9 of 40 Photos: Afghanistan: America's longest war A detainee is escorted by military police at the US naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, on February 6, 2002. The base's detention facilities had been repurposed to hold detainees from the US "war on terror." Hide Caption 10 of 40 Photos: Afghanistan: America's longest war Mullah Mohammed Omar, the man credited with creating the Taliban, is seen in this photo that spread in 2002. The Afghan government said in a news release that he died in Pakistan in 2013. The White House confirmed his death in 2015 but said "the exact circumstances of his death remain uncertain." Hide Caption 11 of 40 Photos: Afghanistan: America's longest war Mohboba, 7, stands near a bullet-ridden wall in Kabul as she waits to be seen at a health clinic on March 1, 2002. She had a skin ailment that plagued many poverty-stricken children in Afghanistan. Hide Caption 12 of 40 Photos: Afghanistan: America's longest war Damage is seen in Bamiyan, Afghanistan, where the Taliban destroyed the Buddhas of Bamiyan, the two tallest standing Buddhas in the world. The act generated an outcry in the international community. The Taliban also destroyed villages and towns in Bamiyan Province. Hide Caption 13 of 40 Photos: Afghanistan: America's longest war Afghan girls watch United Nations workers unload ballot kits ahead of the country's first democratic election in October 2004. Hamid Karzai was sworn in as President in December. Hide Caption 14 of 40 Photos: Afghanistan: America's longest war Afghan women walk past a portrait of Karzai in Kabul on October 26, 2004. Karzai had been in a leadership role since December 2001, when an interim government was formed after the Taliban lost its last major stronghold. Hide Caption 15 of 40 Photos: Afghanistan: America's longest war An Afghan soldier provides security near the site where a US helicopter crashed in Ghazni, Afghanistan, on April 7, 2005. At least 16 people were killed. Hide Caption 16 of 40 Photos: Afghanistan: America's longest war Protesters in Kabul rally against US President George W. Bush on May 12, 2005. Hide Caption 17 of 40 Photos: Afghanistan: America's longest war Poppy farmer Abdul Rassod looks over his field in Panshar, Afghanistan, on May 29, 2005. Afghanistan is the world's largest producer of opium and heroin. Hide Caption 18 of 40 Photos: Afghanistan: America's longest war Several people were killed in Kabul after a pair of suicide bombings on November 14, 2005. Hide Caption 19 of 40 Photos: Afghanistan: America's longest war Bush and Karzai attend a news conference in Kabul on March 1, 2006. It was Bush's first visit to Afghanistan. Hide Caption 20 of 40 Photos: Afghanistan: America's longest war US soldiers disembark from a helicopter in Afghanistan's Ghazni Province on May 28, 2007. Hide Caption 21 of 40 Photos: Afghanistan: America's longest war Supplies are dropped to US troops in Ghazni Province on May 29, 2007. Hide Caption 22 of 40 Photos: Afghanistan: America's longest war Afghan students recite Islamic prayers at an outdoor classroom in the remote Wakhan Corridor on September 2, 2007. Hide Caption 23 of 40 Photos: Afghanistan: America's longest war Troops wait to fire artillery on a Taliban position in Afghanistan's Kunar Province on October 22, 2008. Hide Caption 24 of 40 Photos: Afghanistan: America's longest war Bush speaks to US troops during an unannounced visit to Bagram Air Base on December 15, 2008. It was his second and last visit to Afghanistan as President. Hide Caption 25 of 40 Photos: Afghanistan: America's longest war US soldiers take defensive positions after receiving fire from Taliban positions in Afghanistan's Kunar Province on May 11, 2009. Army Spc. Zachary Boyd, left, was wearing "I love NY" boxer shorts after rushing from his sleeping quarters to join his fellow platoon members. Hide Caption 26 of 40 Photos: Afghanistan: America's longest war Afghan men cast their votes at a polling station in Kabul on August 20, 2009. It was the country's second election. Hide Caption 27 of 40 Photos: Afghanistan: America's longest war US Marines make their way up a mountainside in Afghanistan's Helmand Province on August 22, 2009. Hide Caption 28 of 40 Photos: Afghanistan: America's longest war Marines pay their respects to Lance Cpl. Joshua Bernard during his memorial service in Helmand Province on August 27, 2009. Bernard was killed during a Taliban ambush earlier that month. Hide Caption 29 of 40 Photos: Afghanistan: America's longest war US soldiers fire mortars from a base in Afghanistan's Kunar Province on October 24, 2009. Hide Caption 30 of 40 Photos: Afghanistan: America's longest war Afghan President Hamid Karzai prepares to kiss a copy of the Quran during his swearing-in ceremony on November 19, 2009. He won a second term after Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah dropped out of a runoff. Hide Caption 31 of 40 Photos: Afghanistan: America's longest war US President Barack Obama addresses troops at Bagram Air Base on March 28, 2010. A few months earlier, he announced a surge of 30,000 additional troops. This new deployment would bring the US total to almost 100,000 troops, in addition to 40,000 NATO troops. Hide Caption 32 of 40 Photos: Afghanistan: America's longest war US soldiers shield themselves from dust as a helicopter takes off in Afghanistan's Arghandab Valley on July 30, 2010. Hide Caption 33 of 40 Photos: Afghanistan: America's longest war Obama and members of his national security team monitor the mission against Osama bin Laden on May 1, 2011. Bin Laden was killed when Navy SEALs conducted a raid at a compound in Pakistan. (Editor's note: The classified document in front of Hillary Clinton was obscured by the White House.) Hide Caption 34 of 40 Photos: Afghanistan: America's longest war Obama announces the death of bin Laden on May 1, 2011. Hide Caption 35 of 40 Photos: Afghanistan: America's longest war Obama shakes the prosthetic hand of Army Sgt. 1st Class Leroy Arthur Petry on July 12, 2011. Petry was at the White House to receive the Medal of Honor. The Army Ranger lost his hand while tossing an enemy grenade away from fellow soldiers in Afghanistan. Hide Caption 36 of 40 Photos: Afghanistan: America's longest war A coalition helicopter fires flares in Kuz Kunar, Afghanistan, on July 17, 2011. Hide Caption 37 of 40 Photos: Afghanistan: America's longest war An Afghan soldier carries his wounded colleague to a US Army helicopter after a roadside bomb attack on the outskirts of Kandahar, Afghanistan, on July 29, 2011. Hide Caption 38 of 40 Photos: Afghanistan: America's longest war A US Army carry team moves the remains of Sgt. William B. Gross Paniagua at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware on August 1, 2011. Gross Paniagua died in Afghanistan on July 31, 2011, from injuries sustained by an improvised explosive device. Hide Caption 39 of 40 Photos: Afghanistan: America's longest war US Army Gen. John Campbell, left, and Command Sgt. Maj. Delbert Byers open the "Resolute Support" flag during a ceremony in Kabul on December 28, 2014. The United States and NATO formally ended the combat mission in Afghanistan. Resolute Support was the name of the new mission to assist and train Afghanistan's troops. Hide Caption 40 of 40

Deliberate effort

Trump administration officials have described the changes as a deliberate effort to empower the military and reverse the protocols that defined the Obama administration's oversight of military campaigns that much of the top brass described as micromanagement that needlessly hamstrung commanders. Although not to the same extent, some of those complaints also stemmed from the era of President George W. Bush, military experts said.

"No longer will we have slowed decision cycles because Washington, DC, has to authorize tactical movements on the ground," Mattis said in May. "I have absolute confidence as does the President, our commander in chief, in the commanders on the ground as he's proven by delegating this authority to me with the authority to further delegate it and they've carried it out aggressively."

The sentiment is widespread in military circles.

Retired Gen. John Allen, who forcefully criticized Trump during the campaign, expressed support for some of Trump's moves to empower military commanders. The former top commander in Afghanistan and later Obama's special envoy for the anti-ISIS coalition recalled how he and other top military officials have long craved "greater flexibility" to more effectively carry out their mission and "maintain the momentum against the enemy."

"Many of these targets are very perishable," Allen said. "Every time I or other commanders had to come back to Washington for permissions, everything slowed down."

JUST WATCHED Trump won't say if he signed off on bomb use Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Trump won't say if he signed off on bomb use 01:33

Going too far?

But now, some are questioning whether the changes put into effect by the Trump administration amount to an overcorrection that risks handing over too much authority to the Pentagon.

Going forward, the White House will have a diminished role in sounding off on military decisions that could have geopolitical implications as well as political ramifications back home in the US.

Trump will be one step removed from more of the military's airstrikes in Yemen and Somalia, decisions that could lead to more civilian casualties and local uproar in countries where the US is not formally deployed. Military commanders have stressed there has been no change to their tolerance for civilian casualties.

As Mattis prepares to send as many as 5,000 additional troops to Afghanistan, the commander in chief won't need to be in the picture. He has been briefed on the proposals for additional troops, but Trump -- who during his campaign railed against "nation-building" and a deepening of the US' military footprint abroad -- ultimately left the final decision to Mattis, distancing himself from a decision that could lead to more US casualties and prove politically unpopular.

Under both Presidents Bush 43 and Obama, decisions to send thousands more troops came from the top.

"I think there are some legitimate concerns that he is distancing himself from decisions about war and peace," said retired Adm. John Kirby, a career military officer who served as the Pentagon's top spokesman during the Obama administration.

Kirby, who said he believes there are merits to giving commanders more latitude, said he worried the Trump administration's decisions represented a "knee-jerk, counter-reaction" to the Obama White House's involvement in military decision-making.

"This could potentially be an overcorrection," said Kirby, who is now a military and diplomatic analyst for CNN.

David Rothkopf, a former Clinton administration official who has written extensively about White House national security decision-making, called Trump's moves to delegate troop levels "a break from, essentially, modern history." He said the Trump administration's moves to diminish the National Security Council's input and devolve power to the Pentagon are "counter-historical."

JUST WATCHED Trump: Iran must never possess nuclear weapon Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Trump: Iran must never possess nuclear weapon 00:53

Broader implications

Short of sending thousands of more troops into a conflict, the decision to give commanders more freedom to carry out airstrikes and special operations raids in some areas without the White House's signoff could ripple into broader regional implications.

The Obama White House also kept a close hold on certain tactical movements to stave off "mission creep," or the possibility the US could slowly become more deeply entrenched in limited conflicts.

Kori Schake, the former NSC director for defense strategy in the Bush administration, praised Trump's moves to shift more warfighting powers to the Pentagon. But she also expressed concerns that the decision to delegate troop management authority to the Pentagon came without Trump first deciding on a broader US strategy in Afghanistan.

"It's really important for the President to take responsibility for outcome and have a conversation with the American people that prepares people for both what we're trying to do and the sacrifices that will be required to do it," Schake said.

"The President has not done that on Syria, he has not done that on Afghanistan, he has not done that on the expansion of counterterror operations in Africa and other places. And the risk that runs is that the public -- when the casualties start mounting (is not) prepared for the deeper political commitment," she said.

National Security Council spokesman Michael Anton said Trump will decide on the US' broader strategy in Afghanistan and South Asia in the coming weeks, but decided to grant Mattis the troop authorization beforehand because of the uptick in violence in Afghanistan in recent weeks.

JUST WATCHED McChrystal: Trump will own Mattis decision Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH McChrystal: Trump will own Mattis decision 07:39

'Let the warfighters fight the war'

Trump administration officials rejected criticism that Trump is shirking his strategic responsibilities as commander in chief, insisting Trump is putting power back to the commanders directly overseeing the US's fight against ISIS and al-Qaeda and its offshoots.

"The President believes the best thing to do is to let the warfighters fight the war," White House chief strategist Steve Bannon told CNN.

Bannon, one of the principal architects of efforts to reduce the White House's footprint on the military's tactical decisions, insisted Trump remains deeply engaged in crafting the strategy for defeating ISIS and said decisions on "anything important on the warfighting side" still rest with him.

"He hasn't given up any of the strategic decisions," Bannon said.

The officials said Trump continues to approve the most impactful special operations raids and Anton argued Trump's moves to empower military commanders speak to Trump's management style: "He delegates authority," Anton said.

"That's fine until something goes wrong," said Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling (ret.), the former commanding general of the US Army in Europe. "Then who is going to take the responsibility for those things going wrong? Is it the guy he gave the authority to or is it still him?"

JUST WATCHED New details on two Navy SEALs killed in 2017 Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH New details on two Navy SEALs killed in 2017 03:56

After a raid gone wrong, questions about accountability

Several former military officers and experts interviewed by CNN said their concerns stemmed from one of the first life-and-death decisions Trump made during his term.

Days after he was sworn in, Trump signed off on a special operations raid in Yemen that would leave dozens of civilians and a US Navy SEAL dead. Senior Chief Petty Officer William "Ryan" Owens would be the first service member killed in the line of duty on Trump's watch.

Weeks later -- amid criticism that Trump had hastily approved the raid during a dinner with his defense secretary and with Yemen in uproar over the civilian casualties -- the President punted responsibility to the generals who recommended he approve the raid.

"This was something that was, you know, just -- they wanted to do," Trump said in an interview with Fox News, referring to the US' top military men. "And they came to see me and they explained what they wanted to do, the generals, who are very respected ... And they lost Ryan."

If Trump sticks to that mindset while shifting power to the Pentagon, Schake, the former Bush administration official, said the military faces a "real risk" that it will be stuck with the blame for negative outcomes -- rather than elected officials in Washington, like the President.

But while Trump's moves to give the Pentagon more authority have put some distance between the President and some consequential military decisions, he will be hard-pressed to escape the consequences of those decisions entirely.

Allen, the retired four-star general who praised Trump's moves to give the military "greater flexibility," said Trump "can't dodge culpability and responsibility."

"He's still the commander in chief and he'll still be held accountable," Allen said.