Joint Forces Command falls victim to Pentagon budget cuts
By Anne Flaherty and Anne Gearan
The Associated Press
Published: August 9, 2010
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Defense Department plans to shed one of its 10 major military commands as Defense Secretary Robert Gates tries to pare billions of dollars from the Pentagon’s operating budget.
Gates on Monday announced he will eliminate Joint Forces Command, long a presumed target for belt-tightening, and also cut the Pentagon’s use of outside contractors by 10 percent next year.
“The culture of endless money that has taken hold must be replaced by a culture of savings and restraint,” Gates said.
He labeled the moves “an aggressive effort not only to reduce costs but also to transform the culture of this department … instilling habits of restraint, of subtracting as well as adding.”
He also proposed cutting at least 50 flag officer positions and more than 100 senior civilian jobs within the Defense Department, reducing service support contract funds by 10 percent each of the next three years, trimming money available for Pentagon studies by 25 percent, and implementing severe staffing cuts within the Office of the Secretary of Defense.
Joint Forces Command, with nearly 4,900 employees and annual salaries of more than $200 million, is the largest single cut announced Monday. The Virginia-based command trains troops from different services to fight together, and holds more than 1 million square feet of real estate in Suffolk, Va, and Norfolk, Va. However, savings will be offset by the cost of shifting some jobs and roles elsewhere.
The Pentagon already has announced a target of cutting $100 billion over five years. Gates this year ordered a top-to-bottom paring of the military bureaucracy in search of at least $10 billion in annual savings needed to prevent an erosion of U.S. combat power.
He took aim at what he called wasteful business practices and too many generals and admirals, and noted that “overhead” costs chew up as much as 40 percent of the Pentagon’s budget.
Big cuts are essential considering the U.S. economic recession and the likelihood that Congress no longer will give the Pentagon the sizable budget increases it has enjoyed since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Gates and other defense leaders have said.
“The gusher has been turned off and will stay off for a good period of time,” Gates said in May.
The current defense budget, not counting the cost of fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, is $535 billion; the administration is asking for $549 billion for 2011.
Joint Forces Command, or JFCOM, is one of 10 full combatant commands. Most correspond to regions of the world, such as Pacific Command, but others are organized around a concept or mission rather than geography.
The command is headed by a four-star military officer, the highest grade currently in use. Marine Gen. James Mattis was its commander until named last month to replace Army Gen. David Petraeus as head of U.S. Central Command. His replacement will be Gen. Ray Odierno, now the war commander in Iraq. Odierno’s job will be to eliminate his own office, Gates said.
Gates said he expects the command to be closed within a year.
Sen. Mark Warner, Virginia junior senator and the state’s former governor, said he saw “no rational basis” for dismantling Joint Forces Command because its mission was to impose “greater cooperation and savings among the military services.”
“One thing I learned in the business world is you sometimes have to spend money to save money,” Warner said. “It’s a no-brainer that JFCOM is one of the commands that could use more resources.”
The plan Gates will outline is similar to one suggested last month by the Defense Business Board, a panel of company executives who advise the Pentagon. The board said Gates should cut the number of civilian employees by at least 15 percent. The panel also identified Joint Forces Command as contributing to much of the contractor bloat because it had more contractors than government employees on its payroll.
Stars and Stripes reporter Leo Shane III contributed to this report.
http://www.stripes.com/joint-forces-command-falls-victim-to-pentagon-budget-cuts-1.114014
By Anne Flaherty and Anne Gearan
The Associated Press
Published: August 9, 2010
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Defense Department plans to shed one of its 10 major military commands as Defense Secretary Robert Gates tries to pare billions of dollars from the Pentagon’s operating budget.
Gates on Monday announced he will eliminate Joint Forces Command, long a presumed target for belt-tightening, and also cut the Pentagon’s use of outside contractors by 10 percent next year.
“The culture of endless money that has taken hold must be replaced by a culture of savings and restraint,” Gates said.
He labeled the moves “an aggressive effort not only to reduce costs but also to transform the culture of this department … instilling habits of restraint, of subtracting as well as adding.”
He also proposed cutting at least 50 flag officer positions and more than 100 senior civilian jobs within the Defense Department, reducing service support contract funds by 10 percent each of the next three years, trimming money available for Pentagon studies by 25 percent, and implementing severe staffing cuts within the Office of the Secretary of Defense.
Joint Forces Command, with nearly 4,900 employees and annual salaries of more than $200 million, is the largest single cut announced Monday. The Virginia-based command trains troops from different services to fight together, and holds more than 1 million square feet of real estate in Suffolk, Va, and Norfolk, Va. However, savings will be offset by the cost of shifting some jobs and roles elsewhere.
The Pentagon already has announced a target of cutting $100 billion over five years. Gates this year ordered a top-to-bottom paring of the military bureaucracy in search of at least $10 billion in annual savings needed to prevent an erosion of U.S. combat power.
He took aim at what he called wasteful business practices and too many generals and admirals, and noted that “overhead” costs chew up as much as 40 percent of the Pentagon’s budget.
Big cuts are essential considering the U.S. economic recession and the likelihood that Congress no longer will give the Pentagon the sizable budget increases it has enjoyed since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Gates and other defense leaders have said.
“The gusher has been turned off and will stay off for a good period of time,” Gates said in May.
The current defense budget, not counting the cost of fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, is $535 billion; the administration is asking for $549 billion for 2011.
Joint Forces Command, or JFCOM, is one of 10 full combatant commands. Most correspond to regions of the world, such as Pacific Command, but others are organized around a concept or mission rather than geography.
The command is headed by a four-star military officer, the highest grade currently in use. Marine Gen. James Mattis was its commander until named last month to replace Army Gen. David Petraeus as head of U.S. Central Command. His replacement will be Gen. Ray Odierno, now the war commander in Iraq. Odierno’s job will be to eliminate his own office, Gates said.
Gates said he expects the command to be closed within a year.
Sen. Mark Warner, Virginia junior senator and the state’s former governor, said he saw “no rational basis” for dismantling Joint Forces Command because its mission was to impose “greater cooperation and savings among the military services.”
“One thing I learned in the business world is you sometimes have to spend money to save money,” Warner said. “It’s a no-brainer that JFCOM is one of the commands that could use more resources.”
The plan Gates will outline is similar to one suggested last month by the Defense Business Board, a panel of company executives who advise the Pentagon. The board said Gates should cut the number of civilian employees by at least 15 percent. The panel also identified Joint Forces Command as contributing to much of the contractor bloat because it had more contractors than government employees on its payroll.
Stars and Stripes reporter Leo Shane III contributed to this report.
http://www.stripes.com/joint-forces-command-falls-victim-to-pentagon-budget-cuts-1.114014
