The Defense Department recently released a report titled “Annual Industrial Capabilities Report To Congress – September 2011”. This is the latest in a series of annual reports requested by Congress since 1997. The report carries some grim predictions about both defense spending and how it will affect both government and contractor workforce levels.
By 2013, the report estimates that 70 percent of defense department employees in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) positions will be eligible for retirement. DoD is supporting some STEM education initiatives but the risk exists that critical defense skills in the sciences will be lost unless increased funding is established for STEM education.
The aviation industry is one of those singled out for comment. The report states that research on military aircraft, both fixed and rotary wing, is at a historic low. A potent combination of retiring experienced engineers and the lack of challenges to lure younger engineers into the industry will affect the ability to execute future programs.
That same point is made about the missile industry. Limited opportunities in the near term will make it tough for the industry to both attract and retain a skilled workforce.
The ship building industry is facing funding challenges. Future purchases of warships are being extended and the shipyards are seeing activity change from steady to a model with peaks and valleys. Having to layoff and then re-hire skilled workers creates one issue. Lessons learned may be lost from ship to ship and the costs savings for a class of vessel being produced is reduced.
NASA is an agency that comes under particular scrutiny. The termination of the Space Shuttle program and the loss of one possible replacement program mean that the agency is losing a wide variety of skilled and experienced workers. While private space entities are providing some opportunities, the risk is that the DoD and NASA will lose the human results of the space race.
As congress continues to debate congressional budgets and the defense industry continues to push for continued advancement and investment in research and technology, the Industrial Capabilities Report is worth reviewing as the U.S. looks to balance efficiency and cost-savings with continued advancement.
Charles Simmins brings thirty years of accounting and management experience to his coverage of the news. An upstate New Yorker, he is a free lance journalist, former volunteer firefighter and EMT, and is owned by a wife and four cats.
