Inside the Pentagon
Aug. 6, 2009 -- Mark your calendars: The Office of the Secretary of Defense has scheduled a handful of target dates over the next six months for accomplishing key tasks needed to complete the 2010 Quadrennial Defense Review and finalize changes to the Pentagon's new six-year spending plan.
The Pentagon's policy shop -- which is spearheading the congressionally mandated assessment -- last month distributed an updated time line for QDR Phase II, which runs from July to November; and Phase III, which slightly overlaps with Phase II and runs from November to February.
Aug. 14 will mark the first milestone in Phase II, according to the QDR schedule, when the services are required to submit to the Office of the Secretary of Defense their spending plans for 2011 to 2015, proposals that are required to comply with Defense Secretary Robert Gates' recent guidance to fund new capabilities that Pentagon officials estimate will cost as much as $60 billion (DefenseAlert, July 28).
On Sept. 1, three weeks later, the comptroller’s shop and capabilities assessment and program evaluation directorate will begin their critique of the POM, according to the schedule. However, Pentagon sources say the Defense Department is forming 18 new issue teams to begin work on the program and budget review early (DefenseAlert, Aug. 4).
The five QDR issue teams are required to finalize policy papers by Oct. 15, and summary briefs by Nov. 6.
Dec. 4 marks the last Phase II objective, the target date to complete the program and budget review and “lock” the Defense Department's FY-11 budget request, according to the schedule.
Phase III begins Nov. 15, when the QDR report is expected to be drafted, according to the schedule. From November to January, the Pentagon plans “intensive pre-release outreach.”
Finally, in January, Gates is expected to approve the report before transmitting it to Congress in February along with the FY-11 budget request, according to the schedule. -- Jason Sherman
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