Civilianizing Certain Air Force Positions Could Result in Economies and Better Use of Military Personnel

GAO discussed how the Air Force could reduce costs at Strategic Air Command (SAC) missile bases by using civilians in certain military positions and by reducing or eliminating certain military construction projects.

GAO concluded that grounds exist to question the Air Force's decision on military positions at three SAC bases and that substantial cost reductions could be reached. Further, GAO believes that planned military construction projects, identified by the Air Force and costing about $2 million, should be deferred until the question of conversions can be resolved. The Department of Defense's (DOD) longstanding policy has been to use civilians in positions which do not require military personnel. In a joint paper, DOD and the Office of Management and Budget stated that this policy can result in savings. However, GAO believes that the specifics need to be determined on a case-by-case basis. If justified, the process of converting military positions would increase personnel costs over the short term, since the displaced military people would not be released but would be used for other military needs. In the long run, converting military positions to general schedule civilian positions should reduce costs. GAO also believes that the Air Force should defer some of the planned military construction projects because of the potential for reduced need that would result from converting additional military positions to general schedule civilian positions.

Recommendations

Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.

Director: Henry W. Connor Team: General Accounting Office: Procurement, Logistics, and Readiness Division Phone: (202) 275-4141