Civil, military leaders to review strategy

Senior civilian and military personnel were recently requested to examine the Defense Department’s strategic assumptions in light of the changes in the fiscal environment. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel asked Deputy Defense Secretary Ash Carter and Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to lead the effort.

Carter and Dempsey were tasked with examining the choices underlying the department’s strategy, force posture, investments and institutional management, as well as past assumptions, systems and practices.

The examination follows up on the Defense Strategic Guidance, which called for rebalancing military forces toward the Asia-Pacific region, supporting partner nations and building partnership capacity, ensuring access to the global commons, countering the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and winning the wars of today. That guidance, released in January 2012, was used to form the fiscal 2013 budget request that included a $487 billion cut in the DoD budget over 10 years.

This review will define major decisions, will frame the secretary’s guidance for the fiscal 2015 budget, and will ultimately be the foundation for the Quadrennial Defense Review due to Congress in February 2014.

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Hagel Tasks Civilian, Military Leaders to Examine Strategy, American Forces Press Service