Pentagon Institutes Civilian Hiring Freeze

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon has put a civilian hiring freeze in place for the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Defense Agencies and Field Activities, Defense News has learned.

The freeze, which went into effect March 20, was ordered by Deputy Secretary of Defense Bob Work in a Feb. 23 memo. It impacts all vacant full-time and part-time, temporary and permanent civilian positions with no tentative offer presented as of March 19.

The freeze is related to a congressional order to reduce the number of headquarters staff at the Pentagon. As part of the “delayering” process, all personnel need to be reflected in the Fourth Estate Manpower Tracking System (FMTS), an internal DoD accounting system. The goal is to get an accurate picture of the current manpower in order to know what spots need to be filled and what can be left alone.

According to the memo, the hiring freeze will be lifted only once the relevant agency has “Presented its delaying plan to the Senior Review Panel and received approval form the Senior Review Panel or by the Deputy Secretary of Defense; updated its designated major DoD headquarters activates (MHA) authorizations in the Fourth Estate Manpower System (FMTS) in accordance with its approved delayering plan; and updated FMTS for all non-MHA positions funded by direct appropriation.” Non-MHA positions funded by revolving funds will need to be updated by June 30, 2016.
Arnold Punaro, a former Marine Corps major general and Senate Armed Services Committee staff director who has been advocating for a reduction in Pentagon staffing levels for several years, called the freeze a "prudent move" but said more must be done to solve "the longstanding issue of what is the baseline from which you are cutting and what are the real costs of various categories of personnel."

"The Pentagon is expert at saying they reduced the number [of staff], but you find out they just created another 'activity' outside the wire and so real reductions and savings are not realized. And when you have a "rolling" baseline, how do you calculate an accurate percentage?," Punaro wrote in an email to Defense news. "I have argued for years that there should be authorized numbers for OSD, JCS and the other HQ elements just like we do for active duty and guard and reserve end strengths. That is the only true way to control headcount and it would cover all categories- not just defense civilians."

The "good news," he said, is that Work and Deputy Chief Management Office Peter Levine seem dedicated to getting a real baseline staffing figure to work from.

"I don't know how successful they will be, as the bureaucracy typically has been more resilient than the most senior leaders, but we have not had people before who have attacked it this vigorously, obviously with the support of Sec. Carter and the push from Congress," Punaro wrote.
Arnold Punaro, a former Marine Corps major general and Senate Armed Services Committee staff director who has been advocating for a reduction in Pentagon staffing levels for several years, called the freeze a "prudent move" but said more must be done to solve "the longstanding issue of what is the baseline from which you are cutting and what are the real costs of various categories of personnel."

"The Pentagon is expert at saying they reduced the number [of staff], but you find out they just created another 'activity' outside the wire and so real reductions and savings are not realized. And when you have a "rolling" baseline, how do you calculate an accurate percentage?," Punaro wrote in an email to Defense news. "I have argued for years that there should be authorized numbers for OSD, JCS and the other HQ elements just like we do for active duty and guard and reserve end strengths. That is the only true way to control headcount and it would cover all categories- not just defense civilians."

The "good news," he said, is that Work and Deputy Chief Management Office Peter Levine seem dedicated to getting a real baseline staffing figure to work from.

"I don't know how successful they will be, as the bureaucracy typically has been more resilient than the most senior leaders, but we have not had people before who have attacked it this vigorously, obviously with the support of Sec. Carter and the push from Congress," Punaro wrote.
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