US Defense Secretary Robert Gates has directed the US Defense Department to implement by September a batch of efficiency initiatives designed to save US$13.6 billion over five years.
In a March 14 memo, Gates details how the Pentagon plans to save the funds by disestablishing US Joint Forces command, eliminating personnel positions across the bureaucracy - including nearly 15 per cent of the general and flag officer corps - and reducing the Pentagon’s reliance on contractor support.
In the memo, which is 48 pages long including attachments, Gates codifies decisions on efficiency goals he proposed last August that are part of a wider plan to eliminate more than US$100 billion from the Pentagon’s management and overhead costs between fiscal years 2012 and 2016.
The new directive stems from recommendations made by “study groups” formed last fall to examine efficiency initiatives dealing with elements of the bureaucracy that fall outside the domain of the military services.