Defense officials hone their insourcing strategy
In the fiscal 2011 budget proposal documents released Feb. 1, the Obama administration laid out the Defense Department’s High-Priority Performance Goals, a new initiative for program evaluations.
For DOD, officials have launched a departmentwide insourcing initiative to handle more of its operations on its own. By 2011, DOD hopes to rely less on contract services by increasing the Pentagon's in-house civilian or military workforce, adding 19,844 authorizations for personnel, according to the budget documents.
Since the budget was released, Pentagon officials have been touting their plans to take work from the private sector. Here are a few statements from Defense officials:
“Fundamentally changing [poor procurement] practices requires enough full-time professionals with the right skills and training. The department’s budget plan includes an increase of more than 20,000 such positions to supervise or replace contractors by 2015. Fundamentally reforming acquisitions, above all, calls on us to foster a culture and practice of accountability—accountability with regard to industry and within the walls of this building, as well.”
—Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Feb. 1
“We are implementing the Weapons System Acquisition Reform Act that was passed last year, including adding about 20,000 government civilians to our acquisition workforce, trying to get a better handle on requirements early, which is key to preventing later unanticipated cost growth, and a variety of other efforts. We’re continuing our insourcing initiative that we established in the fiscal ’10, hiring more government civilians and replacing contractors.”
—Undersecretary of Defense Comptroller Robert Hale, Feb. 1
“Civilian personnel. There is a growth of 6,700 personnel. This reflects insourcing, moving contractor billets into civilian personnel, part of which is acquisition workforce, as well as some other government expertise for acquisition.”
—Rear Adm. Joe Mulloy, deputy assistant secretary of the Navy, Feb. 2
The fiscal 2011 budget proposal "continues contractor-to-civilian conversions. We are insourcing from contractor to civilian 7,726 positions in this budget."
—Maj. Gen. Alfred Flowers, deputy assistant secretary for budget for the Air Force.
Posted by Matthew Weigelt on Feb 03, 2010 at 6:47 AM