Personnel
Personnel

Replace 80,000 Military Personnel in Support Positions With Civilian Employees

The Department of Defense could transfer some of those positions to civilian employees and decrease the number of military personnel accordingly. In 2012, about 340,000 active-duty military personnel were assigned to commercial positions that perform support functions. Those functions require skills that could be obtained from the private sector so that, in principle, those same positions could be filled by civilian employees.

SAVINGS

$3.1-$5.7 billion per year

STATUS
LINKS

The Problem

Readiness versus Waste

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    “If we are going to effectively tackle the long-term national security threat posed by our national debt, then we need to seriously examine how our defense dollars are being spent. Waste and inefficiency within the Pentagon not only contributes to our nation’s debt and deficit, it also diminishes the effectiveness of our nation’s armed forces."

    Dan Caldwell, USMC (ret.)
    Concerned Veterans for America
    Dan Caldwell, USMC (ret.)
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    “I'm concerned that our increasing fractious political process, particularly with respect to federal spending, is threatening our ability to properly defend our nation both in the short term and especially in the long term."

    Dan Coats
    Director of National Intelligence
    Dan Coats
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    “This guide is a much-needed first step toward encouraging politicians to consider all available options for substantive Pentagon reform. Our troops deserve better than broken bureaucracy, and politicians shouldn't fool themselves into thinking that throwing money at the problem is the solution."

    Capt. Dan Grazier, USMC (ret.)
    Project on Government Oversight
    Capt. Dan Grazier, USMC (ret.)