Time Pressure

As Defense Department leaders begin tackling the kinds of existential questions posed by President Obama in his April 13 speech, Army Under Secretary Joseph Westphal sees different expectations about the timing of the review rising to the surface.

"For the services, it's important that it be done in a quick manner, but also in a comprehensive manner. I know the two things don't align very well," Westphal said in a speech this morning at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

"I think the [defense] secretary is definitely looking for a longer-term, more expansive piece of work. The pressure that will probably come from the White House and probably come from the Congress will be, 'Hey, tell us now what that strategy is -- how you see the world in the future.'"

Westphal expects the deliberations to get "a lot of play" in the next two months, given what's at stake for service force structures.