Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the department would scale back significantly the role of contractors in support services.
Pentagon Purging Contractors, Hiring Thousands Of New EmployeesBy Katherine McIntire Peterskpeters@govexec.comApril 6, 2009
Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Monday recommended major changes in the Pentagon's procurement priorities and acquisition practices, and said the department would scale back significantly the role of contractors in support services.
The recommendations are part of the Pentagon's 2010 budget request, which the White House will submit to Congress in a few weeks. Gates said President Obama agreed to the "unorthodox approach" of announcing the Pentagon's request before the White House sends the full budget to Capitol Hill, because the scope and significance of the changes warrant a deeper explanation in the context of military reform.
The recommendations also are sure to generate a lot of pushback from lawmakers. Within an hour of Gates' briefing to reporters, a bipartisan group of senators sent the president a letter protesting recommended cuts in missile defense funding.
Gates said Defense had three main objectives: take care of troops; rebalance programs to adequately support the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan; and reform how the services buy weapons.
Among the most far-reaching changes he recommended were reducing the number of support service contractors from the current level of 39 percent of the workforce to the pre-2001 level of 26 percent and replacing them with full-time government employees.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Monday recommended major changes in the Pentagon's procurement priorities and acquisition practices, and said the department would scale back significantly the role of contractors in support services.
The recommendations are part of the Pentagon's 2010 budget request, which the White House will submit to Congress in a few weeks. Gates said President Obama agreed to the "unorthodox approach" of announcing the Pentagon's request before the White House sends the full budget to Capitol Hill, because the scope and significance of the changes warrant a deeper explanation in the context of military reform.
The recommendations also are sure to generate a lot of pushback from lawmakers. Within an hour of Gates' briefing to reporters, a bipartisan group of senators sent the president a letter protesting recommended cuts in missile defense funding.
Gates said Defense had three main objectives: take care of troops; rebalance programs to adequately support the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan; and reform how the services buy weapons.
Among the most far-reaching changes he recommended were reducing the number of support service contractors from the current level of 39 percent of the workforce to the pre-2001 level of 26 percent and replacing them with full-time government employees.
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