Hale On Strategy

Pentagon Comptroller Robert Hale said today that the Defense Department probably will have to create "a new strategy" to replace the Defense Strategic Guidance that was released by President Obama a year ago, but when pressed afterward he clarified that he believes officials will revise the 2012 guidance, not rewrite it from scratch.

During an Aviation Week conference, Hale told the audience that formal work on creating the new strategy has not yet begun. He said it could be created in the context of the Quadrennial Defense Review process, but added that the strategy would be needed before the QDR process culminates in the release of a report to Congress early next year. As he was leaving the event, however, he told reporters he believes the Defense Strategic Guidance will be revised, not tossed out and replaced with something entirely new.

"I think we're going to have to revise it if we see these kinds of cuts," Hale said. Asked how extensive the revisions might be, he added, "I don't know. I'm not the strategy guy. I'm the budget guy." On Monday, Maj. Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, the Marine Corps' lead officer for the QDR, said the review should be steered by an up-front assessment of how diminishing resources might force the Obama administration to revise or rewrite its defense strategy. The QDR will help DOD assess the affordability of the Defense Strategic Guidance, but it will not be the means of devising a new strategy if one is needed, McKenzie said.