The changing terrain
Army
An excellent Army Times interview with new Army Secretary Eric Fanning revealed his thoughts about the state of today’s Army. The term that kept reappearing in the piece was “predictability.” Secretary Fanning feels that soldiers need more predictability in terms of deployments, the DoD budget, continuing resolutions, government shutdowns, sequestration, training and equipment. He stated that he thinks the Army “looks tired” after 15 years of deployments and too little investment in some installations. A large portion of the interview was focused on the Army’s budget, chiefly the “instability” of it. He said predictable funding “allows the Army to better train and equip soldiers.” His top priority as Army Secretary will be taking care of people.
DoD Civilians
The Pentagon is requesting from Congress to increase Voluntary Separation Incentive Payment (VSIP) amounts from $25,000 up to $40,000+ for DoD civilians. The Pentagon expects to make approximately 6,000 VSIP offers per year over the next five years, with two-thirds being offered to Army civilians. A Wednesday DoD news article stated the department is restructuring its headquarters in order to save $1.9 billion via a 25 percent reduction of staff costs. The expectation is that over a several-year period, most changes will take place through attrition. Of those remaining who will be affected, nearly 100 percent will be “placed in other positions” or be offered early retirement or a VSIP. “The goal of the restructuring is to reduce costs so DoD can shift those resources into modernization of the force and improving readiness and training.”
Sources: armytimes.com, washingtonpost.com, defense.gov
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