Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) declares that the Pentagon’s QDR “has become a budget-driven exercise, which limits its utility to Congress.” Hunter, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, is leading a charge to separate what the Pentagon needs to address threats as opposed to what it can afford. He says, the “Committee Defense Review” he began last year, taken in conjunction with the QDR, will provide “a more complete picture of America’s national security needs.”
Gene Smith, Former POW and AFA Chair, Dies at 91
Jan. 19, 2026
Lt. Col. Richard “Gene” Smith, who overcame five and a half years as a prisoner of war in the notorious Hanoi Hilton from 1967 until 1973, died Jan. 16. He was one day short of his 91st birthday.

