QDR-Enabled

Combatant commanders want the issue of sufficient "enablers" in the military to be treated as a topic of the Quadrennial Defense Review, U.S. Central Command Chief Gen. David Petraeus told members of the House Armed Services Committee this morning.

The term enablers is military jargon for non-combat forces performing crucial support work.

Petraeus singled out intelligence analysts, biometrics specialists and counter-IED experts as important enablers for the Obama administration's new strategy in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

As for intelligence specialists, in particular, Petraeus said those individuals were crucial in Iraq because they provided information about the populace that helped U.S. officials support local reconciliation efforts.