The Next QDR: Improving the Linkage Between End, Ways, and Means

Abstract

In May 1997, DOD reported the results of its Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR), the third major post-cold war review of defense strategy and force requirements since the Warsaw Pact's dissolution. The QDR adopted a third pronged defense strategy built around shaping the strategic environment during peacetime through day-today military contacts; responding to a full spectrum of military operations; and preparing for an uncertain future by investing now in new technologies and force modernization. Senior DOD leaders reasoned that only modest cuts should be made in force structure and personnel given the strategy's continuing emphasis on maintaining the capability to conduct two overlapping major regional conflicts. DOD also concluded that it could effectively implement the strategy within an expected no-growth budget environment of $250 billion annually. DOD assumed that much of the additional spending required for modernization would flow from a vanety of planned initiatives to trim DOD's infrastructure such as new base closures and outsourcing functions traditionally performed by DOD's military and civilian workforce.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 1999
Accession Number
ADA442394

Entities

People

  • Janet St. Laurent

Organizations

  • National War College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical
  • Human Systems
  • Materials and Manufacturing Processes
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Base Closures
  • Budgets
  • Business Administration
  • Cold War
  • Combat Forces
  • Congress
  • Control Systems
  • Force Structure
  • Law
  • Military Operations
  • Military Personnel
  • Military Strategy
  • National Security
  • Procurement
  • Security
  • United States
  • War Colleges

Readers

  • Defense Acquisition Program Management
  • Strategic Security Studies