Where Would Leon Panetta Lead America’s Military?

Erin Van de Voorde / June 08, 2011

With Defense Secretary Robert Gates making his final rounds and Secretary of Defense nominee Leon Panetta headed to his Senate hearing tomorrow, the obvious question is how Panetta will face the defense issues at hand.

The Defense Department is rife with challenges, including rampant defense spending cuts in the name of fiscal responsibility and lack of proper modernization. End-strength reductions for the Army and Marines and talk of leaving Afghanistan echo in the halls of both the Pentagon and the Capitol. Panetta’s answers to these challenges will be important for Members of Congress and the American taxpayer. Defending Defense, A joint project of American Enterprise Institute, Foreign Policy Initiative, and The Heritage Foundation, recently released a list of 10 important questions that would be helpful in determining Panetta’s priorities. (more…)