The QDR Has Landed, Sort Of

摘要

In times past, the Pentagon's big "quadrennial" reviews of US forces, weapons, and strategy provided specificity. Service force structure was projected in some detail. After the 1993,1997, and 2001 reviews, the Air Force was authorized the equivalent of 20 fighter wings, a certain number of bombers, and so on. The same was true for the other services. Things are different now. The Bush Administration's new Quadrennial Defense Review, unveiled on Feb. 6, put forth what it called a "refined" force-planning standard, but left hazy the actual size of the future force itself. Unlike the three previous QDRs, this one contained some puzzling gaps.