The issue of how to fund this transformation in this fiscally constrained environment is no small challenge. This money would fund initiatives in intelligence, space, urban warfare, joint experimentation, and information operations. In the absence of additional defense funding, the transformation could best be funded by infrastructure and acquisition reform. There will be no easy answers, and difficult choices must be made. In the increasingly complex world that we foresee, the Department of Defense and its armed services cannot preserve U.S. interests alone.
Defense is but one element of a broader national security structure.
If we are to be successful in meeting the challenges of the future, the entire U.S. national security apparatus must adapt and become more integrated, coherent, and proactive. Implementing the transformation described in this Report promises to be complex and will require careful balance to preserve our current security interests. It is our belief, however, that if we refuse to change in a timely manner we could be fundamentally unprepared for the future, and put at risk the safety of future generations of Americans. We have the time and the opportunity to adjust. But we cannot equivocate.