QDR and National Guard

July 30, 2010

AFA members, Congressional staff members, civic leaders, and DOCA members, I have two large documents to bring to your attention today.

First the report of the Independent panel to review the Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) was released yesterday. It was chaired by Stephen Hadley and William Perry. The report is long (158 pages) and far reaching. If you just want to review a Compilation of Findings, that section starts on page vii. I have cherry picked a few of the panel's recommendations and put them at the end of this note. I found it interesting that the findings/recommendations were unanimous. I also thought one phrase in it was very interesting: "Instead of unconstrained, long term analysis by planners who were encouraged to challenge preexisting thinking, the QDRs [of the past] became explanations and justifications, often with marginal changes, of established decisions and plans. Congress constituted our Independent Panel to review the QDR, assess the long term threats facing America, and produce recommendations regarding the capabilities which will be necessary to meet those threats."

You can find the report here.

Secondly, General Craig McKinley, Chief of the National Guard Bureau, has released a paper on the contributions to our security made by the Guard. It is 16 pages long and has a one page executive summary. I shouldn't have been, but I was surprised at a number of facts presented in the paper. Such as having 75,000 National Guard soldiers and Airmen deploy in support of overseas missions. You can find the paper on our web site here.

For your consideration.

Mike

Michael M. Dunn
President/CEO
Air Force Association