The fed. gov¿t., incl. the DoD, is relying on contractors to carry out many of its missions. Governmentwide spending on contractor services has more than doubled in the last 10 years. DoD has used contractors extensively to support troops deployed abroad; there are about 196,000 contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan. While contractors can play an important role in helping agencies accomplish their missions, there have been problems regarding the appropriate role and mgmt. of contractors, particularly at DoD. This testimony highlights the challenges DoD has had in managing its increased reliance on contractors who support deployed troops and who provide logistics support for weapons. Includes recommendations.

Defense Management: DOD Needs to Reexamine Its Extensive Reliance on Contractors and Continue to Improve Management and Oversight

Recent years have seen a growing role for private military contractors in national and international security. To understand the reasons for this, Elke Krahmann examines changing models of the state, the citizen and the soldier in the UK, the US and Germany. She focuses on both the national differences with regard to the outsourcing of military services to private companies and their specific consequences for the democratic control over the legitimate use of armed force. Tracing developments and debates from the late eighteenth century to the present, she explains the transition from the centralized warfare state of the Cold War era to the privatized and fragmented security governance, and the different national attitudes to the privatization of force.

Federal agencies face a complicated set of decisions in finding the right mix of gov¿t. and contractor personnel to conduct their missions. But, agencies face challenges with increased reliance on contractors to perform core agency missions. A March 2009 Presidential memo tasked the Office of Mgmt. and Budget (OMB) to take several actions in response to this concern. This statement discusses: (1) civilian agencies' development and implementation of guidelines to consider whether contracted functions should be brought in-house -- a process known as insourcing; (2) OMB's proposed policy on work reserved for fed. employees; (3) challenges agencies face in managing the federal workforce; and (4) key tools available for insourcing. Illustrations.

Contents: (1) A responsible drawdown in Iraq will need to balance the timetable established in the security agree., military doctrine that calls for the delineation of conditions that must exist before military operations can end, and the wishes of the Iraqi gov¿t. (2) The DoD will need to remove about 140,000 troops by the end of 2011. The redeployment of these forces and the removal of their equipment and material will be a massive and expensive effort. (3) The U.S. will need to consider how to transition from a predominantly military presence to a civilian one as U.S. forces draw down. (4) Iraq will need to develop the capacity to spend its resources, particularly on investment that will further economic dev¿t. and deliver essential services to its people. Illustrations.