Pentagon Gives Up on Reducing Contractors

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Only a year ago, the Department of Defense announced a commitment to reduce the number of contractors it uses for various services and functions. That plan has already been discarded by Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, who quietly dropped the goal of cutting contractor totals by 33,000 within five years when he announced plans for deep personnel cuts and eliminating a major military command. Under the 2009 proposal the Pentagon was going to phase out contractor slots and gradually increase the number of full-time government employees by 39,000, with 20,000 of those handling procurement duties.

 
As recently as May 28, the Defense Department was boasting that “In-sourcing is a high priority” and that military contractors would be reduced to pre-George W. Bush levels. During the Bush administration, spending on military contracts almost doubled. Gates had hoped to insource previously contracted services in such areas as logistical support of aviation systems, safety engineering, cost accounting, anti-terrorism training and religious support. However, on Monday he said, "As we were reducing contractors, we weren't seeing the savings we had hoped from insourcing."
-Noel Brinkerhoff, David Wallechinsky
 
Pentagon Abandons Insourcing Effort (by Robert Brodsky, Government Executive)

Comments

DBE 12 years ago
one again nothing but lies from our government. i was one of over 200 people who lost our contracts with the usaf at plant 42 in palmdale ca. we were out of work and insourced on aug. 1,2010. our plant had been a goco government owned- company operated plant since 1953. there was never a cost justification analysis made to prove the contractor was doing the job less effectively. the contractor at the time managed police, fire, maintenance as well as communications and it positions. all which were replaced with full time dod personnel. i have been like many security police, fire, maintenance workers insourced out of full time employment since. many can only find part time at best. several have just plain retired. those that meet the age requirement for government employment and passed physicals took jobs with the dod and are working more hours for less salaries than we had under the contract. so in my eyes it only makes perfect since that our forward thinking secretary of defense has called it quits only a couple of years into his plan to save our country form debt. one thing no one could answer me was when i asked how you can take a contractor who was the lowest bidder to provide the services that has been apparently contracted twenty years before i was born be a cost saving measure by employing government workers to replace the contracted lowest bidder??

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