By Emelie Rutherford
House lawmakers have chosen a former congressman, retired Army general, military historian, and previous Pentagon policy official for a panel that will scrutinize the Pentagon’s Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR).
The Democratic and Republican leaders of the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) announced yesterday the four members they appointed. The independent Defense Department panel, which has a total of 20 seats, will assess the massive QDR report after Pentagon leaders sign off on it, likely in February 2010.
HASC Chairman Ike Skelton (D-Mo.) tapped retired Army Maj. Gen. Robert Scales and University of North Carolina professor Richard Kohn for the QDR oversight panel. Former Missouri Republican senator Jim Talent and Bush administration Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Eric Edelman were appointed by HASC Ranking Member Howard “Buck” McKeon (R- Calif.).
The heads of the Senate Armed Services Committee also can name four members to the QDR-assessing panel. Lawmakers increased the size of the panel via the fiscal year 2010 defense appropriations act, which added the eight congressionally-appointed seats to the committee. Another 12 members are appointed by Defense Secretary Robert Gates.
The independent panel is charged with submitting an initial report on the QDR to Gates and the congressional defense committees in the spring of 2010, followed by a final report in mid-July, 2010. Gates then must respond to the report by mid-August.
“Panelists will now be tasked to review the Secretary of Defense’s terms of reference, and any other materials providing the basis for, or substantial inputs to, the work of the Department of Defense on the 2009 QDR; conduct an assessment of the assumptions, strategy, findings, and risks in the report of the Secretary of Defense on the 2009 QDR, with particular attention paid to the risks described in that report; conduct an independent assessment of a variety of possible force structures for the Armed Forces, including the force structure identified in the report of the Secretary of Defense on the 2009 QDR; and review the resource requirements identified in the 2009 QDR,” McKeon said in a statement.
Talent, one of McKeon’s picks, served in the House and Senate and on both chambers’ armed services committees. He left the upper chamber following his failed reelection bid in 2006, and now is a fellow at The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank.
Edelman, McKeon’s other appointee, served as under secretary of defense for policy in George W. Bush’s administration, from 2005 to early 2009. Edelman held other posts in the State Department and the White House.
Scales, one of Skelton’s appointees to the QDR oversight panel, retired from the Army after 30 years of service as a major general. He commanded units in Vietman and ended his military career as commandant of the Army War College. Scales currently serves as president of Colgen, Inc., a defense consultancy.
Kohn, Skelton’s other pick, is a professor of history and military-related issues at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He has taught military history and national-security affairs at several institutes of higher learning, and served as chief historian for the Air Force from 1981 to 1991.