Editor's note: On 22 January 2006, InsideDefense.com published 42 pages of material excerpted from a 127-page 18 January 2006 "draft working paper" version of the QDR. This is a selection (about 6% of the total QDR text) of those excerpts designated "key" by this editor.

You may also be interested in this Defense News article, QDR Boosts Special Forces; Draft Review Cuts No Major Programs from 23 January.

Here are some of the excerpts:

Future warriors will be as proficient in irregular operations, including counterinsurgency and stabilization operations, as they are today in high-intensity combat.

To achieve the future force characteristics for SOF and build on progress to date, the Department will:

* Further increase SOF capability and capacity to conduct low-visibility, persistent presence missions and a global unconventional warfare campaign.
* Increase (starting in Fiscal Year 2007) active-duty Special Forces Battalions by one-third.
* Expand Psychological Operations and Civil Affairs units by 3,500 personnel (33% increase) to provide increased support for SOF and the Army's modular forces.
* Establish a Marine Corps Special Operations Command (MARSOC) composed of 2,600 Marines and Navy personnel to train foreign military units, and conduct direct action and special reconnaissance.
* Increase SEAL Team force levels to conduct direct action missions.
* Establish a SOF unmanned aerial vehicle squadron to provide organic capabilities to locate and target enemy capabilities in denied or contested areas.
* Enhance capabilities to support SOF insertion and extraction into denied areas from strategic distances.

The report calls for a new approach to the Transformational Satellite program: to "spiral develop" its capabilities instead of trying to field all of the expected technology at one time — and replan the satellite launches accordingly.