Using Civilian Personnel For Military Administrative And Support Positions

The Department of Defense's (DOD) longstanding policy has been to use civilians in positions which do not require military personnel, and the services have established policies, regulations, and guidelines compatible with this policy. DOD undertook major civilianization programs in fiscal years 1964-68 and 1973-75; since fiscal year 1964, over 100,000 jobs have been converted from military to civilian. Even though DOD and the services have had conversion programs, their views have been more negative than positive, reflecting a traditional reluctance to reduce the number of military personnel and the need for programs to adjust the mix of military and civilian personnel. A 1977 DOD study suggested that the potential existed for converting about 50,000 more military positions to civilian positions. The Navy indicated that it was considering the conversion of 12,000 positions, but the Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps viewed a major civilianization program as detrimental to their readiness capability. Although the services are concerned about maintaining the ability to accomplish their missions effectively, DOD policy on the use of military and civilian personnel has not been revised.

Using Civilian Personnel for Military Administrative and Support Positions: Can More Be Done?

In 1994, we recommended that the Secretary of Defense study opportunities to convert certain support positions from military to civilian status, since federal civilian personnel cost the military less than military personnel of roughly equal grade/rank. Our 1994 detailed analysis was focused primarily on enlisted positions. Although the Department of Defense (DOD) concurred with our recommendation, it converted no positions based on this work. It also filed a congressionally mandated report on military to civilian conversions and explained that large-scale conversions of military positions would not be undertaken until its civilian workforce stabilized at the conclusion of the drawdown. DOD had converted 3,219 positions by the end of fiscal year 1996 to comply with the requirement in the fiscal Year 1996 National Defense Authorization Act to convert at least 3,000 positions. We have conducted a similar analysis of commissioned officer positions using fiscal year 1996 end strength data and, in accordance with our basic legislative responsibilities, are reporting our results to you because they fall within your committees' jurisdiction. Our review is a first step in identifying officer positions that perform certain support and administrative functions as candidates for civilian conversion. Our specific objectives were to identify the (1) criteria the services use to determine which officer positions are "military essential," positions that DOD believes must be filled by a military person; (2) positions currently filled with officers that might be filled with civilians without harming operational capabilities; and (3) savings from converting positions from military to civilian status. To achieve the second objective, we developed criteria based on DOD directives and guidance before applying it to selected officer positions in support activities.