The Defense Department has said it is starting to “civilianize” certain positions currently filled by uniformed military personnel in order to free up military slots for duties more directly related to war fighting. The fiscal 2005 budget proposal says that efforts to convert about 10,000 positions will be under way in the current fiscal year and that a similar number will be targeted in fiscal 2005. DoD has estimated that it has some 300,000 military positions that could turned over to civilians, although a Congressional Budget Office estimate put the figure at about 90,000. However, only some of the positions converted would create new job opportunities for civilian DoD employees. Some of the slots could be turned over to contractors while others might simply be abolished.