United States Government Accountability Office
Washington, DC 20548
April 30, 2010
Congressional Committees
Subject: Quadrennial Defense Review: 2010 Report Addressed Many but Not All
Required Items
The Department of Defense (DOD) is facing the complex challenge of simultaneously
supporting continuing operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and preparing its military
forces to meet emerging threats of the new security environment. Congress
appropriated $626 billion for DOD’s fiscal year 2010 budget and to support current
operations. As we have emphasized in previous reports, the federal government is facing
serious long-term fiscal challenges, and DOD may confront increased competition over
the next decade for federal discretionary funds.
1
The 2010 Quadrennial Defense Review
(QDR), the fourth since 1997 and the second since the start of operations in Afghanistan
and Iraq, articulates DOD’s strategic plan to rebalance capabilities in order to prevail in
current operations and develop capabilities to meet future threats. The QDR
acknowledged that the country faces fiscal challenges and that DOD must make difficult
trade-offs where warranted. Also, the QDR results are intended to guide the services in
making resource allocation decisions when developing future budgets.
DOD is required by law to conduct a comprehensive examination of the national defense
strategy, force structure, force modernization plans, infrastructure, budget plan, and
other elements of the defense program and policies of the United States, every 4 years,
with a view toward determining and expressing the nation’s defense strategy and
establishing a defense program for the next 20 years.
2
In addition to the 14 reporting
requirements specified in the 1999 legislation that established the standing requirement
for the QDR in the John Warner National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year
2007,
3
Congress added 2 new reporting elements to be included in subsequent QDRs,
including the requirement to report on the specific capabilities needed to achieve the
strategic and warfighting objectives. The department submitted its report on the fourth
1
GAO, The Federal Government’s Long-Term Fiscal Outlook: January 2010 Update, GAO-10-468SP
(Washington, D.C.: March 2010); 21st Century Challenges: Reexamining the Base of the Federal Government,
GAO-05-325SP (Washington, D.C.: February 2005). Also see our related products list at the end of this report.
2
The first QDR was completed in response to section 923 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year
1997, Pub. L. No. 104-201 (1996). Congress created a continuing requirement for DOD to conduct a QDR every 4
years in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2000, Pub. L. No. 106-65 § 901 (1999), codified at
10 U.S.C.§ 118.
3
Pub. L. No. 109-364, §1031 (2006).
Page 1 GAO-10-575R Quadrennial Defense Review
