An official website of the United States government
A .mil website belongs to an official U.S. Department of Defense organization in the United States.
A lock (lock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .mil website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Home : News : Article View
NEWS | July 29, 2010

Panel suggests re-evaluation of military's use of Guard

By Lisa Daniel, American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, - A congressionally mandated panel has recommended broad changes to long-term Defense Department strategies and priorities, including funding a major recapitalization of equipment, revamping the personnel system and re-evaluating of how the military uses National Guard and reserve forces.

Former Defense Secretary William J. Perry and former National Security Advisor Stephen J. Hadley gave their final report as co-chairs of the Independent Panel's Assessment of the Quadrennial Defense Review to the House Armed Services Committee today. The QDR is a legislatively mandated review of Department of Defense strategy and priorities.

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates appointed 12 of the 20-members on the panel in 2009 to assess the 2010 QDR, which was released in February. The other eight panel members were selected by Congress. The panel's report is called "The QDR in Perspective: Meeting America's National Security Needs in the 21st Century."

The panel found that the QDR did not project out far enough to prepare the military for the long term, Perry said. Rather, he said, the QDR focused primarily on the next four to five years around the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. "If I were secretary of defense today, I would have done the same thing," said Perry, who served from 1993 to 1997.

Perry, who served in President Bill Clinton's administration, and Hadley, who served under President George W. Bush, said the panel showed remarkable nonpartisanship and was unanimous in its findings.

The panel identified America's four "enduring national interests that transcend politics" as, defense of the homeland; assured access to sea, air, space and cyberspace; a favorable balance of power in western Asia; and overall humanitarian good.

Among the potential threats to U.S. national interests, according to the panel, are radical Islamic extremism and terrorism, the rise of great powers in the East, tensions in the Middle East and competition for resources.

While "soft power" capabilities of diplomacy and civilian support are important, Hadley said, "the world's first order of concern will continue to be security concerns."

Because of that, the panel recommends a recapitalization of military hardware to replace the wear and tear of nine years of war, Perry said. "This will be expensive," he said. "But deferring recapitalization will require even more expenses in the future."

The panel also recommends a restructuring of forces to build up Navy end-strength and improve the Air Force's long-range strike capabilities. Current Army and Marine Corps ground forces are sufficient for the long term, the panel said.

The panel's assessment also calls for a reconsideration of managing resources. Gates' acquisition reform plans are "a good start," Perry said, but they don't go far enough.

Defense officials should require dual competition in all production programs, and set a limit of five to seven years for the delivery of all defined programs, Perry said. Historically, he said, all successful programs are delivered in four to five years, and programs that drag on beyond 10 years "are guaranteed to cost too much."

Also, Pentagon officials need to clarify roles within the department's acquisitions work force as to who is responsible for the delivery of programs, Hadley said. "It's a muddy picture, with lots of layering and lots of review without clear authority," he said.

In its review, Perry said, the panel was firmly supportive of continuing with an all-volunteer force, but found that changes are needed to reduce personnel costs in maintaining pay and benefits that have become increasingly generous since conscription ended in the 1970s. Specifically, the panel recommends establishing a commission to consider cost savings in pay and benefits and the panel's suggestion to increase length of service for retirement eligibility from 20 years to as long as 40 years.

"I don't need to tell this committee that this is politically charged," Perry said. He added that extending service is important to retain people in whom the military has invested much education and training.

The panel also recommends a re-evaluation of how the military uses National Guard and reserve forces.

"Our panel thinks we really need to re-think our relationship between the active force and the Guard and reserves, and if we need a mobilization capability beyond our current mobilization force," Hadley said. "How much of the Guard and reserve is an operational reserve? How much of it is a strategic reserve? How much of it is for homeland security? All this needs to be re-thought."

According to the report, the role of the reserve components needs to be reviewed, "with an eye to ensuring that a portion of the National Guard be dedicated to and funded for homeland defense."

 

 

Related Articles
Master Sgt. Shane Bedard, Headquarters, 141st Air Refueling Wing, Washington Air National Guard talks with members of the El Salvador military as they conduct tactical combat casualty care training from Feb. 22 – March 8, 2025.
Guard Members Instruct Life-Saving Skills in El Salvador
By Joseph Siemandel, | April 7, 2025
CAMP MURRAY, Wash. – Washington National Guard members have instructed Tactical Combat Casualty Care and Combat Medic training in El Salvador.They worked with the Defense Institute for Medical Operations on the training that...

U.S. Air Force A1C Rafael Herrera, power production, cuts wood while working on the framing for the Tama Hills Restoration Project for Yokota Air Base Boy Scouts.
188th Civil Engineers Set to Improve Strategic Base in Portugal
By Maj. Jennifer Gerhardt, | April 7, 2025
EBBING AIR NATIONAL GUARD BASE, Ark. – Airmen from the 188th Civil Engineer Squadron (CES) are preparing to go to Portugal for a two-week temporary duty (TDY) assignment aimed at enhancing operational readiness and...

Air Force Gen. Steve Nordhaus, chief, National Guard Bureau, joins Maj. Gen. Calisto dos Santos Coliati, Timor-Leste’s vice chief of defense and Air Force Brig. Gen. Thomas Hannon, assistant adjutant general, Rhode Island Air National Guard, in a ribbon-cutting ceremony to mark the handover of a humanitarian aid and disaster relief warehouse, and an aircraft hangar, Baucau, Timor-Leste, April 4, 2025. Timor-Leste, the Rhode Island Guard, the U.S. Embassy and U.S. Navy Seabees from Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 3, collaborated on the projects which will help Timor-Leste’s response and security activities.
National Guard Bureau Chief Sees Promising Partnership in Timor-Leste
By Master Sgt. Zach Sheely, | April 6, 2025
DILI, Timor Leste — The chief of the National Guard Bureau visited Timor-Leste last week to underscore the Rhode Island National Guard’s budding security cooperation ties with the island nation through the Department of...