Quadrennial Defense Review 2014

It should be read as a strategy-driven document

Following Secretary Hagel’s February 24 preview, the Administration made its “full” Presidential Budget request on March 4, alongside the publication of a budget-driven quadrennial defense review. Here is an overview of both the QDR and the FY15 budget request, with their highlights and flaws.

The Pentagon’s Quadrennial_Defense_Review has a whole chapter dedicated to the Department’s efforts to convince Congress to permanently undo sequestration. Otherwise, it emphasizes the sort of non-land based force components that are currently fashionable: cyber, missile defense, nuclear deterrence, space, air/sea, precision strike, ISR, and counter-terrorism. In other words, the politically-palatable components that don’t involve infantry and armor “boots on the ground.”