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Strategic Choices
In early 2013 when confronted with the specter of sequestration, Hagel ordered a "Strategic Choices and Management Review," which drove each of the services to prepare a sequestration-level budget. This review and these budgets represented the first sober and fact-based approach to understanding the devastating consequences that sequestration would have on our national defense and led to hard choices such as drawing down the Army and retiring aging platforms like the A-10.
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Defense Innovation Initiative
Hagel directed an ambitious effort to identify and invest in innovative ways to sustain and advance America's military dominance for the 21st century -- a third "offset" strategy.
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Nuclear Enterprise
Hagel ordered top-to-bottom change in the nuclear enterprise, including changing oversight and training. He increased funding by 10 percent to keep the arsenal safe, secure and effective.
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Military Health System
Hagel spearheaded real changes to the military medical health system, directing unified standards for medical care, developing a performance management system and establishing a mechanism for patients to provide ongoing input to constantly improve care.
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Modernizing Health Records
Hagel moved aggressively to modernize service member health records information to improve tracking and better facilitate transfer to the Veterans Administration. He approved a series of actions to accelerate interoperability with the VA, including upgrades to online tools for beneficiaries and initial installation of a common DoD-VA communications network infrastructure. He also surged DoD personnel to VA facilities to help deal with the VA backlog.
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Support for Vietnam-Era Veterans and PTSD
Concerned that fellow veterans of the Vietnam War received fair treatment, Hagel ordered DoD to consider post-traumatic stress disorder as a factor for decades-old discharges that prevented veterans from receiving mental health care.
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POW/MIA Accounting
Hagel directed the consolidation of three DoD entities concerned with personnel accounting responsibilities into one organization. This will help the department increase the number of missing service personnel it accounts for annually, while ensuring families receive timely and accurate information.
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Sexual Assault in the Military
Hagel chaired weekly meetings to keep a heavy focus on fixing the problem of sexual assault in the military. He ordered more than 30 initiatives that have already made a real difference to men and women across the force.
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Military Justice System
To ensure accountability around sexual assault and other crimes, Hagel directed a comprehensive review of the military justice system, the first one of its kind in decades.
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Military Awards and Decorations
Hagel ordered a yearlong review of military decorations and awards policies following 13 years of war to take into account evolution of our capabilities and combat operations.
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Staff Efficiencies
To streamline bureaucracy and increase efficiency, Hagel cut his own staff by 20 percent and ordered the same for all other headquarters staff.
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Integrating Women
Hagel maintained momentum on authorizing women in combat roles to include integrating more than 50,000 positions. He notified the U.S. Congress of intent to integrate 20,000 more with the goal of opening up nearly 237,000 positions by 2016.
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Equality
Hagel pushed forward on initiatives to permit more benefits for same-sex military couples. He ordered the National Guard to ensure that nine states that had previously refused to do so provide full benefits, including identification cards, to same-sex couples.
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Cyber Support for the Warfighter
Hagel ensured that the National Security Agency and U.S. Cyber Command remained a joint entity to provide the warfighter with critical intelligence capabilities during a period of heightened scrutiny of the NSA following leaks by Edward Snowden, a former contract employee.
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Acquisition Reform
Hagel launched "Better Buying Power 3.0," an initiative designed to develop and implement best practices to strengthen DoD's buying power, improve industry productivity, and provide an affordable, value-added military capability to the warfighter within the constraints of a declining defense budget.