So Long, QDR

The Quadrennial Defense Review, the Pentagon’s regular study of the future needs of the military, is over, the head of the House Armed Services Committee said Wednesday. Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-Texas) said during a Foreign Policy Initiative event in Washington, D.C., that the Fiscal 2017 National Defense Authorization Act will do away with the review, which he said is a budget justification by the Defense Department and not a strategy document. The review was established in the 1997 NDAA, and is conducted every four years to review long-term program needs within the department. The most recent review, published in 2014, said budget uncertainty caused a “near-continuous cycle of evaluation and planning.”