Lawmakers name new Defense Strategy Commission members

The leaders of the House and Senate Armed Services committees have named the 12 members for the new Defense Strategy Commission.

The commission, established by the 2017 National Defense Authorization Act, is intended to review national defense strategy, military readiness, the strategic environment and other issues.

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain (R-AZ) has picked former Sen. John Kyl (R-AZ), retired Army Gen. Jack Keane and Thomas Mahnken, president and chief executive of the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments.

Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI), the committee's ranking member, chose former acting Deputy Defense Secretary Christine Fox, former acting CIA Director Michael Morell and Anne Patterson, the former assistant secretary of state for near Eastern affairs.

House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mac Thornberry (R-TX) picked Eric Edelman, a former under secretary of defense for policy, Andrew Krepinevich, a former longtime CEO of CSBA, and Roger Zakheim, a former congressional defense committee staffer.

Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA), the House Armed Services Committee's top Democrat, chose former Chief of Naval Operations retired Adm. Gary Roughead, former principal deputy under secretary of defense for policy Kathleen Hicks and former Pentagon Comptroller Mike McCord.