QDR 'Roadmap'...Exercise in Futility or Avenue to Transformation. An Analytical Look at QDR 2001 and it Impacts on Future Military Direction

摘要

QDR 2001 attempted to examine every facet of our nations defense from doctrine to dollars. Unfortunately, the electoral delays, which postponed the establishment of the new Bush administration, drastically compressed the timeframe available (under the law) for conduct of the review. This led the QDR machinery to by-pass scrutiny of several elements of our defense while focusing intently on others, skewing the 'results of the experiment'. This flawed data by no means mitigates the importance of the results. If anything, it underscores the necessity of the services to be prepared well in advance of the actual QDR, anticipating the possible questions, and being capable of articulating their respective service platforms, roles, and missions in defending the nations interests with 'off the shelf' products requiring little or no modification. This paper was written in the aftermath of the author's experience as a member of the United States Marine Corps QDR Cell, with recommendations for organization and function of the Marine Cell in future such reviews.