This is good news for the Navy, whose very core is based upon the tenet of forward presence. ADM Jay L. Johnson stated that QDR validates many of the Navy's current principles and supports our people. The QDR highlights that the military's major strength is its men and women in uniform and the highly dedicated civilian work force, and the highest priority must be their welfare and that of their families. The QDR maintains 12 aircraft carriers and 12 amphibious ready groups. Maintaining that force structure is a visible reminder of the importance of forward presence.
Naval forces provide the ability to intervene in a crisis anywhere in the world.
QDR underscores the importance of a modernization program that ensures tomorrow's Navy is even more capable and ready than today. It secures the future of naval aviation by placing the most advanced aircraft of the time on our carrier decks. The Navy's ship modernization program, which also remained a priority in QDR, ensures the United States can control the seas and project power ashore in peacetime and across the wide spectrum of contingencies from regional conflicts to two simultaneous major theater wars. QDR recommends a force of 116 surface combatants. The Navy already planned, and the QDR supports, phasing out a number of older, less-capable surface ships.