Ideas on DoD Reforms Expected This Month

Teams working on the overhaul of the Defense Department personnel system expect to report to senior Pentagon leadership this month, and after internal approval the recommendations will be discussed with Congress, according to an open letter to DoD employees from top officials overseeing the creation of the “national security personnel system” for DoD. “We are determined to take the time necessary to do the job right,” says the letter, the latest in a series of slow-down signals the department has been sending lately after initially saying it expected to have the new system in place by mid-year. To date, DoD has formally put in place only some relatively routine aspects of the new personnel system, involving early retirement and buyout authorities, employment of experts and rehiring of annuitants. A draft proposal on the labor relations aspects has roiled federal unions and some members of Congress and it appears that it will be months before that issue is settled.