The document was released on March 18; this is a transcript of a Pentagon briefing announcing the release, describing the strategy, and answeringi press questsions.

The National Defense Strategy is the guidance that the secretary provides on what the department has to do to implement the president's National Security Strategy. The National Defense Strategy also serves as the foundation for the Quadrennial Defense Review process. Basically, what the Quadrennial Defense Review does is, it asks what kinds of capabilities does this department have to have in order to fulfill the National Defense Strategy.