*EPF202 02/06/01
Defense Department Report, Tuesday, February 6
(Rumsfeld Review/QDR, India/relief) (420)

RUMSFELD REVIEW WILL PRECEDE FURTHER PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT

No current U.S. Defense Department weapons and equipment programs will escape a presidentially-mandated review by Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, says the Defense Department spokesman.

The president's charter is to have Secretary Rumsfeld take a detailed look at all defense programs, which will directly affect future U.S. defense policy, Pentagon spokesman Rear Admiral Craig Quigley said February 6 during the regular twice-weekly briefing.

He said the review is designed to help the Bush administration determine how to "structure the American military as we move ahead."

Quigley said the Rumsfeld force structure review also will affect the department's 2002 budget request. "There are no programs that are exempt from this review," he said. And, he said there is no specific timeline for how long the review will take, but it will take "some number of months. He's not put any more boundaries on it than that."

The Rumsfeld force structure review is different from the congressionally-mandated Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) that must also be completed this year, Quigley said. The QDR will be completed by the September-to-November period this year he said.

The QDR is a complete reassessment of U.S. defense strategy, force structure, military modernization programs and defense infrastructure.

The knowledge gained from the separate Rumsfeld review could easily be "dropped in to the work ongoing in to the Quadrennial Defense Review," Quigley said.

Quigley also said planning for the National Missile Defense system proposed by the Bush administration will continue at the same time.

"The president has been very unambiguous in his desire to pursue a missile defense system for the United States and perhaps for our allies," Quigley said. The specific type and parameters for a missile defense that would be put in place "is still a work in progress," he added.

DOD HAS COMPLETED FIRST PHASE OF INDIA'S EARTHQUAKE RELIEF

Quigley said that four C-17 Air Force cargo jets delivered an initial shipment of emergency relief supplies on February 3 to the Indian military in Ahmadabad, India and to officials of U.S. aid organizations that are coordinating relief assistance.

A six-person team from the U.S. Pacific Command still is on hand to provide disaster assessment to help U.S. embassy officials determine emergency assistance needs, he said. The team includes experts in communications, logistics and medical support.

(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Website: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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