Replacing Military Personnel in Support Positions With Civilian Employees

"Only military personnel engage in combat operations, according to U.S. government policies. However, either military personnel, civilian employees of the Department of Defense (DoD), or contractors may carry out support functions, such as accounting services. In 2012, about 340,000 active-duty military personnel were assigned to commercial positions that perform support functions. Those functions require skills that could be obtained from the private sector so that, in principle, those same positions could be filled by civilian employees.

To cut costs, DoD could transfer some of those positions to civilian employees and then reduce the number of military personnel accordingly. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that doing so for 80,000 full-time positions could eventually save the federal government $3.1 billion to $5.7 billion per year. (Those savings are measured in terms of annualized costs. That term encompasses all liabilities, current and future, that the federal government incurs by employing a military service member or a civilian today, expressed as annual amounts. All annualized amounts are in real terms, meaning that they have been adjusted to remove the effects of inflation.) Some costs of hiring military personnel are paid from accounts outside DoD’s budget, so the department would not realize all of those savings..."
military personnel

Population Representation in the Military Services

Find the latest statistics by gender and race on military personnel from the U.S.
Department of Defense.

DOD Announces Recruiting and Retention Numbers for Fiscal 2010
"The Department of Defense announced today its recruiting and retention statistics for the active and reserve components for fiscal 2010.

- Active Component.

- Recruiting. All four active services met or exceeded their accession goals for fiscal 2010.

- Army – 74,577 accessions with a goal of 74,500; 100 percent

- Navy – 34,180 accessions with a goal of 34,140; 100 percent

- Marine Corps – 28,041 accessions with a goal of 28,000; 100 percent

- Air Force – 28,493 accessions with a goal of 28,360; 100 percent

- Retention. Three of the four services met or exceeded their overall retention goals, with the Air Force achieving 98 percent.

- Reserve Component.

- Recruiting. Five out of six reserve components met or exceeded fiscal 2010 recruiting goal, with the Army National Guard intentionally missing its recruiting goal to stay within end strength constraints.

- Army National Guard –57,204 accessions with a goal of 60,000; 95 percent

- Army Reserve –26,810 accessions with a goal of 26,000; 103 percent

- Navy Reserve –6,669 accessions with a goal of 6,654; 100 percent

- Marine Corps Reserve –10,077 accessions with a goal of 8,043; 125 percent

- Air National Guard –6,983 accessions with a goal of 6,430; 109 percent

- Air Force Reserve –9,604 accessions with a goal of 9,135; 105 percent

- Attrition. Losses in all reserve components are within acceptable limits."

DOD Evaluates Sexual Harassment & Violence Programs At Military Service Academies
" The Department of Defense (DoD) today released key findings from “The DoD Annual Report on Sexual Harassment and Violence at the United States Military Service Academies for Academic Program Year (APY) 2008-2009.” The report integrates findings from evaluations of the academies’ sexual assault prevention and response programs, prevention of sexual harassment programs, and cadet and midshipman focus groups.

The academies saw an overall decrease in the number of sexual assault reports made to authorities in APY 2008-2009. During the evaluation period, there were a total of 25 reports of sexual assault at the academies. All cadets and midshipmen who reported a sexual assault were able to access support services through their sexual assault response coordinators.

“One sexual assault is too many,” said Gail H. McGinn, performing the duties of the under secretary of defense for personnel and readiness. “Our assessment shows the academies understand and have institutionalized some remarkable programs to prevent and respond to this crime.”

As part of the comprehensive review, DoD officials met with personnel from the U.S. Military Academy, U.S. Naval Academy and the U.S. Air Force Academy, reviewed academy policies and procedures, conducted an extensive data call for reports and investigative files, and held focus groups with cadets and midshipmen. Based on information obtained during these site visits, DoD officials found that the academies’ programs fulfilled, and in some cases, surpassed the requirements of existing DoD policies and directives..."

Afghanistan Buildup
A Special Department of Defense's report on forecoming buildup of troops in Afghanistan.

Military Recruitment on High School and College Campuses: A Policy and Legal Analysis
"In recent years, many academic institutions have enacted rules that protect individuals who are gay from discrimination on campus. As a result, some high
schools and institutions of higher education have sought to bar military recruiters from their campuses and/or to eliminate Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) programs on campus in response to the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT) policy, which prohibits homosexual conduct by members of the armed services. These efforts, however, have largely been thwarted due to several laws that bar giving federal funds to campuses that block access for military recruiters.

These laws include the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001, which amended the
Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) by requiring high schools that receive federal funds to provide certain student contact information to military recruiters upon request and to allow recruiters to have the same access to students as employers and colleges. This provision is different from similar Department of Defense (DOD) provisions that allow DOD to compile directory information on high school students for military recruitment purposes and that require colleges and universities that receive federal funds to give military recruiters the same access to students and campuses that is provided to other employers. Known as the Solomon Amendment,
the latter provision was upheld as constitutional by the Supreme Court in the 2006 case Rumsfeld v. Forum for Academic and Institutional Rights (FAIR).

This report describes the various laws regarding military recruitment on high school and college campuses, as well as discusses the policy and legal issues that they may raise. Meanwhile, several bills that would amend these military recruitment provisions have been introduced in the 111th Congress, including H.R. 1026, H.R. 1091, and S. 87."

Deploying Federal Civilians to the Battlefield:Incentives, Benefits, and Medical Care
Report of the House Committee on Armed Services, Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigation. April 2008.
"Our government has asked many federal civilian volunteers to serve in Iraq or
Afghanistan. With the current plans to develop corps of more readily deployable active and reserve civilians, agencies will need a substantial number of personnel for future stability and reconstruction missions, including those in a non-permissive security environment. The committee sought to understand how well the government fulfills its obligation to support and adequately compensate those who are asked to take these assignments. Are support and compensation commensurate with the risks these personnel face in combat zones?"

Chairman Waxman Requests Information on Increase in Military Personnel Waivers
"In a letter to Under Secretary of Defense Chu, Chairman Waxman requested documents related to the recent sharp increase in the number of personnel conduct waivers, which allow the enlistment of U.S. service members who would otherwise be precluded by recruitment standards, and released the number of waivers granted for specific criminal felonies in FY 2006 and FY 2007."