QDR: "An Extraordinary Level of Change"

Here is a great pro-Quadrennial Defense Review oped from the Washington Post, written by Newt Gingrich:

This was the most thorough and systematically managed review in Pentagon history. The review board, co-chaired by Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England and Adm. Edmund Giambastiani, spent half a year forcing changes in a complex bureaucratic system famous for its ability to hide and wait for the current civilian leadership to disappear so it can continue its old, comfortable ways. Only by sheer force of will has the senior leadership, under the direction of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, muscled through substantial and historic change in the Defense Department.

And here are some good examples of positive change:

The Army has shifted from 11 unwieldy World War II-type divisions to 77 rapidly deployable brigades designed for modern war. This makes it more deployable, more usable and more effective. Army modernization is being extended by the creation of more Special Operations units and the Marine Corps is being turned into a more effective organization for what I call "the long war against the irreconcilable wing of Islam."
The Navy and Air Force have continued to shift toward unmanned vehicles, more effective power projection and more sophisticated capabilities to contain and deter China. The shift toward unmanned vehicles alone would have been considered dramatic a decade ago. The development of new submarine capability is a powerful tool as Chinese imports and seaborne trade increase.

This is the first thoughtful and fair review of the QDR I have yet to read!