Austin meets with Defense Policy Board on NDS

The Defense Policy Board met this week for the first time since being reestablished following a review by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to discuss the upcoming National Defense Strategy.

The board, chaired by former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, met with Austin Thursday to discuss classified briefings on Chinese military modernization, the National Defense Strategy, integrated deterrence, the Nuclear Posture Review and the Missile Defense Review, according to Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby.

The board is the second advisory committee to reconvene since Austin completed his review, according to the Pentagon. The Defense Business Board, which convened in November, was first.

"The secretary thanked the members for their continued dedication to the nation and their sound advice and counsel as the department continues to refine the NDS,” Kirby said.

Austin launched the "zero-based" review of all DOD advisory boards and committees in February amid concern that former President Trump had used them in a lame-duck attempt to reward loyalists.

Albright, along with former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, were among several officials ousted from key DOD advisory boards at the end of Trump’s first term.