Quadrennial Defense Review From 1997 To 2001

The 1997 Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) was just the latest in a series of Pentagon studies, including the 1991 Base Force Study and the 1993 Bottom-Up Review (BUR), designed to reevaluate strategy and force structure. Dissatisfied with the BUR, Congress established a Commission on Roles and Missions (CORM) with the 1994 Defense Authorization Act. The CORM recommended instituting a strategy review at four-year intervals; in response, Congress passed the Armed Forces Force Structure Act of 1996 (as part of Public Law 104-201, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1997), mandating the first QDR. Congress felt the end of the Cold War required a fundamental defense review. The QDR itself was specifically tasked to prepare, by 15 May 1997, a "comprehensive examination of the defense strategy, force structure, force modernization plans, infrastructure, budget plan, and other elements of the defense program and policies with a view toward determining and expressing the defense strategy of the United States and establishing a revised defense program through the year 2005."