Summary: In response to a congressional request, GAO reviewed Department of Defense (DOD) personnel reductions in its unified and specified command headquarters, focusing on: (1) how DOD incorporated the reductions into its budget; (2) which organizations received reductions; (3) how DOD accomplished the reductions; and (4) what units received reallocated positions.
GAO found that: (1) DOD eliminated 2,990 of the 7,309 positions originally identified for elimination from its budget; (2) DOD approved service-requested reallocations of 2,244 positions; (3) Army reductions included 163 officers, 216 enlisted personnel, and 744 civilians, Navy reductions included 167 officers, 292 enlisted personnel, and 195 civilians, and Marine Corps reductions included 12 officers and 29 enlisted personnel, all of which DOD reallocated; (4) although the Air Force requested reallocation of 564 of its 1,168 reductions, DOD approved reallocation of only 42 officer and 384 enlisted positions and no civilian positions; and (5) DOD did not anticipate the need for any major reductions-in-force, since the services expected to meet their reductions through normal attrition and rotation.
