Military Officer - October 2006 - (Page 8) fromtheeditor Food for Thought What threats might the U.S. face in the next 20 years? That’s the question the Quadrennial Defense Review attempts to answer — and the latest discussion topic in MOAA’s professionalism series. T his month MOAA invites you to put on your thinking cap for another installment in the association’s military professionalism program. Our aim is to give you food for thought as a professional military officer. Whether you’re currently serving or retired, it’s good to step back and look at the big picture. Now, that doesn’t mean we’re ignoring our daily chores, such as promoting legislation or counseling officers in transition. No, what it means is that we’re balancing MOAA’s immediate, supporting tasks with the association’s overarching goal of maintaining a strong national defense. The topic this month is the Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR). The QDR is charged with looking 20 years into the future to determine a military strategy and capabilities necessary to prepare our nation for the threats it could face. Since the last QDR, in 2001, much has happened — the U.S. has been attacked by radical Islamists, invaded and occupied Afghanistan and Iraq, and launched a war on terrorism. Given this new strategic environment, how well does the 2006 QDR fulfill its charter? To give one answer to this question, we turned to Dr. Andrew F. Krepinevich Jr. Krepinevich, a retired Army lieutenant colonel, is executive director of the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, an independent policy research institute established to promote innovative thinking about defense planning and investment strategies for the 21st century. 8 MILITARY OFFICER OCTOBER 2006 He also is an accomplished author and lecturer. According to Krepinevich, the 2006 QDR had to address four tasks: (1) determine the major challenges that might plausibly confront the U.S. in the next 20 years; (2) present a strategy for meeting these challenges; (3) determine whether the proposed strategy will be adequately resourced; and (4) determine whether the force structure and defense program proposed by DoD is consistent with the diagnosis of the threat and the strategy proposed for addressing it. In this month’s installment, Krepinevich discusses the QDR’s performance with regard to the first task. Part two of this series, scheduled for the December issue, will cover the remaining tasks. The opinions expressed in this article are the author’s, not MOAA’s. But we’d like to know your thoughts, too. Send your letters to editor@moaa.org or log on to MOAA’s Web Base and take part in a discussion forum. Go to www.moaa.org/discussion and scroll down to The Quadrennial Defense Review. Our lines are open! — Col. Warren S. Lacy, USA-Ret. PHOTO: STEVE BARRETT http://www.moaa.org/discussion
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