Defense budget jumps but civilian jobs cut

The Bush administration Monday proposed a $379 billion fiscal 2003 budget for the Defense Department that calls for the largest increase in national security spending in decades, but also continues the trend of trimming the department's civilian workforce. "The Defense budget is cheap when one compares it to putting our security at risk," said Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. The spending proposal now set to be debated by Congress calls for a $48 billion-or 16.9 percent-increase over last year's budget. Most of the increase, $27.2 billion, will go toward fighting the war on terrorism, including $10 billion toward expected war costs in 2003, $1.2 billion for continued surveillance patrols over the United States and $3 billion for homeland security efforts. Defense has already spent $8 billion on the war in Afghanistan. The Bush administration proposes to spend $10 billion to buy and develop new weapons as part of the military's ongoing efforts to modernize. The remainder of the budget increase would be used to pay for a military pay raise of 4.1 percent, a 2.6 percent salary increase for Defense civilians and a rise in health care costs. The budget request says Defense would continue to pursue a 15 percent cut in its headquarters staff. Civilian personnel levels would drop slightly in 2003, from 671,800 workers to 664,600, under the request. Budget documents show that civilian employment levels would continue to drop through 2007, to a level of 652,300 workers. The Defense Department is seeking to open 9,452 additional jobs to commercial competition in fiscal 2003. According to the budget, the jobs include: 3,576 Army positions, 1,192 Navy and Marine Corps positions, 1,334 Air Force positions and 3,350 positions at Defense agencies. Since 1999, Defense has opened more than 70,000 jobs to commercial competition. "DoD is committed to an aggressive A-76 program and is vigorously pursuing the budget savings that can be achieved," states the 2003 budget proposal. Similar outsourcing projections are forecast through fiscal 2007, budget documents reveal. The competitions would follow rules outlined in Office of Management and Budget Circular A-76, which require a competition between federal employees and a contractor before any work is outsourced, with the jobs going to the lowest bidder. Defense estimates the average study takes 18 months to complete and costs $2,000 per position reviewed. Dov Zakheim, Defense comptroller, said the agency is looking for "creative ways" to deal with outsourcing as alternatives to the A-76 process. The Navy has experimented with strategic sourcing, which considers workforce saving options such as eliminating obsolete business practices, consolidating functions or activities, reengineering and restructuring organizations and adopting commercial business practices. Zakheim said A-76 competitions would no longer be the only tool managers have for achieving workforce savings.