Quadrennial Defense Review: 2010 Report Addressed Many but Not All Required Items

Abstract

The Department of Defense (DOD) is facing the complex challenge of simultaneously supporting continuing operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and preparing its military forces to meet emerging threats of the new security environment. Congress appropriated $626 billion for DOD's fiscal year 2010 budget and to support current operations. As we have emphasized in previous reports, the federal government is facing serious long-term fiscal challenges, and DOD may confront increased competition over the next decade for federal discretionary funds. The 2010 Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR), the fourth since 1997 and the second since the start of operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, articulates DOD's strategic plan to rebalance capabilities in order to prevail in current operations and develop capabilities to meet future threats. The QDR acknowledged that the country faces fiscal challenges and that DOD must make difficult trade-offs where warranted. Also, the QDR results are intended to guide the services in making resource allocation decisions when developing future budgets. DOD is required by law to conduct a comprehensive examination of the national defense strategy, force structure, force modernization plans, infrastructure, budget plan, and other elements of the defense program and policies of the United States, every 4 years, with a view toward determining and expressing the nation's defense strategy and establishing a defense program for the next 20 years. In addition to the 14 reporting requirements specified in the 1999 legislation that established the standing requirement for the QDR in the John Warner National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2007,3 Congress added 2 new reporting elements to be included in subsequent QDRs, including the requirement to report on the specific capabilities needed to achieve the strategic and warfighting objectives.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Apr 30, 2010
Accession Number
ADA520941

Entities

Organizations

  • United States Government Accountability Office

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Counter WMD
  • Cyber
  • Engineered Resilient Systems
  • Ground and Sea Platforms
  • Human Systems
  • Space

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Climate Change
  • Combat Forces
  • Combat Operations
  • Congress
  • Contingency Operations (Military)
  • Department Of Defense
  • Department Of Homeland Security
  • Deployment
  • Homeland Defense
  • Homeland Security
  • Interagency Coordination
  • Law
  • National Governments
  • National Security
  • Prompt Global Strike
  • United States Government
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Defense Acquisition Program Management
  • Public Financial Management and Budgeting
  • Strategic Security Studies