DOD Will Meet ‘Aggressive’ Efficiency Goals, Spokesman Says

By Karen Parrish

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, June 19, 2012 – The Defense Department “is on target to meet the aggressive efficiency goals set in the fiscal year 2012 budget,” Pentagon Press Secretary George Little said today.

In a regularly scheduled press briefing he conducted with defense spokesman Navy Capt. John Kirby, Little said fiscal 2012 savings will total just under $20 billion. The fiscal 2012 budget outlines $150 billion in overall savings from “efficiencies” –- improved business practices and reduced overhead – spread over fiscal years 2012 through 2016, Little noted.

“Earlier this year the [Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta] announced an additional $60 billion in efficiencies between fiscal year '13 and '17,” he said. “The department is currently developing implementation plans to reach those goals, and we are confident they can be realized.”

Defense components have developed implementation plans for the fiscal 2012 savings goals, the press secretary said, and have reported to Panetta that they are meeting their monetary targets.

“The secretary is personally involved in the efficiencies effort. This is consistent with his focus on more discipline in business operations, to include audit readiness and improved internal controls,” Little said.

There are more than 300 separate efficiency initiatives, which Little said “add up to a lot of money in this department.”

Eliminating redundant financial reporting and reducing service support contracts will net an estimated $17 million in savings in fiscal 2012 for the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Little reported.

The Air Force is using commercial flight-planning software to make real-time flight adjustments, saving an estimated $45 million over the fiscal year, he said. The Navy is consolidating wireless contracts, for a projected $10 million cost cut during the fiscal year, he added.

The Army is streamlining installation management and decreasing the number of regional headquarters from six to four, Little said, for an estimated fiscal 2012 savings of $9 million.

“And lastly, we … completed elimination of Joint Forces Command last September, for an estimated FY '12 savings of $292 million,” he concluded.