By Geoff Fein

Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Gary Roughead has directed the establishment of a permanent Navy organization to undertake both the Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) and the QDR Review of Department of Defense Roles and Missions (QRM), a move that effectively sunsets the Deep Blue office.

Rear Adm. (Select) Bill Burke will lead the new Navy QDR Integration Group, and he will report directly to Roughead via the Director Navy Staff (DNS).

DNS-QDR is responsible for supervising, coordinating, supporting, and administering all Navy QDR/QRM efforts, according to a memo from Roughead.

“In order to rapidly stand up the DNS-QDR, Deep Blue has transitioned and all billets have realigned to DNS-QDR along with other selected billets within the OPNAV (Operational Navy) staff,” according to the memo. “Beyond the execution of specific QRM/QDR responsibilities, DNS-QDR will assist aligning and integrating OPNAV staff activities.”

Former Navy Chief of Information Stephen Pietropaoli said the decision to transition Deep Blue to DNS-QDR makes sense given that the position of DNS has matured for the Navy.

“Deep Blue grew out of a QDR cell. It was modeled after the Air Force’s Checkmate,” said Pietropaoli, who is now the Navy League’s National Executive Director. “We didn’t have an analytical cell to do this, so we morphed the QDR cell into Deep Blue.”

In the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States, the Navy established an operations group, informally known as “Deep Blue,” to provide intellectual support for the CNO and regional warfighting commanders-in-chief in the global war on terrorism (Defense Daily, Feb. 14, 2002).

At the time, former Vice Adm. Joe Sestak, was heading up the QDR cell as a one-star.

“The Navy-QDR Integration Group will lead this reconciliation by bringing together these disparate and independent sources of analysis and opinion to create an integrated description and view of how Navy strategically addresses current and future operational environments via sustainable investment and execution plans,” Roughead said.

The DNS-QDR framework includes an organizational construct and identifies selected key activities that will support the following objectives:

  • Using the expertise and analysis of Navy headquarters and subordinate staffs, provide senior Navy leadership comprehensive decision support that describes the integration of strategies, concepts and current/future operational environments with investment, support and manpower plans–including areas where strategy and plans diverge;
  • Lead Navy efforts in and serve as the primary Navy staff conduit to the Office of the Secretary of Defense and the Joint Staff in development and implementation of QDR strategic direction and determination and review of DoD roles and missions;
  • In coordination with CHINFO, communicate to external audiences how Navy capabilities, plans and programs implement defense and Navy strategies; and
  • In coordination with Navy headquarters staff, examine and evaluate factors outside the normal Navy program planning horizon that could afford strategic opportunities, or affect or disrupt existing strategies, investments, and plans.