Despite the budget pressures on the Department of Defense, the number of civilian employees and contractors is not shrinking. As the Washington Times reported on Sunday, DoD civilian employee numbers have grown over the last three years despite pronouncements to the contrary. Personnel cuts are being absorbed by the military side of DoD personnel and not the civilian side.
In February, Mike McCord from the DoD comptroller’s office discussed the relationship between civilian staffing and the budget. The budget released by the Pentagon at that time focused on missions and not personnel. He told reporters that personnel are the means to accomplish the mission. Civilian employment will be determined by the needs of the force and the functions supported.
In March, the Omaha World-Herald reported on the “insourcing” taking place at the U.S. Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM ) at Offutt Air Force Base. The Times article quotes a DoD spokesperson as noting the continued conversion of contractor positions to DoD civilian employee positions.
The latest budget documents seen by the Times has DoD at 801,000 civilian employees. In addition, 776,000 contractor personnel are employed by DoD. Together, the number of civilian employees and contractors is greater than the size of the active duty military. In testimony before Congress, Secretary of Defense Panetta actively resisted any move to force reductions in the civilian workforce. The Times quotes the Secretary as follows:
“Frankly, I don’t think you should de-trigger sequester on the backs of our civilian workforce,” Mr. Panetta testified. “I mean, I realize that savings could be achieved there, but the civilian workforce does perform a very important role for us in terms of support.”
The administration is reducing the numbers of military personnel to 2001 levels as part of $487 billion in defense budget cuts. With little or no reduction in civilian personnel numbers, it seems unlikely that DoD will reduce its payroll from 801,000 employees to the 2011 figure of 687,000.
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.
