The Gates Speech, Part Two: The Contractors

Defense Secretary Robert Gates' big speech on Saturday was aimed squarely at the notion of cutting overhead costs, especially in the civilian and military bureaucracies.

But don't overlook what Gates said about contractors, too:

Consider the Department's spending on operations and maintenance, a broad category that encompasses about $200 billion worth of the day-to-day activities of the military - from flight training to mowing the grass. Over the last decade, spending in this area - not counting expenses directly related to the wars - has about doubled, with large increases in administrative and infrastructure support. At the same time, the department's spending on contract services - excluding the Iraq and Afghanistan theaters - has grown by some $23 billion. The one area of real decline in overhead was in the area where we actually needed it: full-time contracting professionals, whose numbers plunged from 26,000 to about 9,000. We ended up with contractors supervising other contractors - with predictable results.

Of course, Gates has already put his money where his mouth is on boosting the size of the acquisition workforce. He started pushing for it more than a year ago, in his fiscal 2010 budget request. But now Gates has made it clear that was only the beginning of his focus on Pentagon purchasing. "The changes we have made in the procurement arena represent an important start," he said Saturday. "But only a start. More is needed -- much more."