Pentagon to Close Va. Military Command, Shed Contractor Jobs
Military to close Joint Forces Command in Norfolk and trim contractor jobs.
WASHINGTON, Aug. 9, 2010— -- Seeking to make the Pentagon more efficient, Defense Secretary Robert Gates outlined a series of job cuts as the Defense Department eliminates one of the military's 10 major commands, reduces the number of outside contractors by 10 percent in each of the next three years and trims the number of generals and admirals in the ranks.
The belt-tightening measures are part of an ongoing two-year effort to make the Defense Department more efficient by reducing overhead costs, Gates said. That will make it able to do more with less in advance of what Gates foresees as smaller budget increases in coming years.
The changes are not a budget cut, but an effort to change the way the Pentagon thinks, Gates said, and are "designed to reduce duplication, overhead and excess in the defense enterprise and over time instill a culture of savings and restraint in this department."
Joint Forces Command, based in Norfolk, Va., will be most directly impacted by today's announcement. Employing 5,800 personnel, more than half of them contractors, it has an annual operating budget of $240 million.
Gates said its job responsibilities to promote doctrine and training through the joint military commands could be done by other agencies. He said Joint Forces Command personnel and responsibilities would be absorbed by the Joint Staff, which is based at Pentagon.
In a statement released after Gates' announcement, Joint Forces Command said there would be "much hard work and analysis in the time ahead" as it carried out its own dissolution.
"While this decision will understandably cause concern among our work force, we will be diligent to make sure we keep distractions to a minimum and continue to provide the best possible support to the warfighter," the statement said. "We have been assured that our work force will receive the best professional career advice and placement assistance available."
Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness Dr. Clifford Stanley will meet with Joint Forces Command's leaders Tuesday "about the way ahead."
Senior officials who briefed reporters after Gates refused to provide a number for how many jobs might be lost, saying it was too preliminary to release.
