Carlucci Orders 3,000 Jobs Cut at Military Commands

Defense Secretary Frank C. Carlucci, resolving a dispute between his civilian staff and military leaders, has ordered 3,000 jobs eliminated over the next three years at military headquarters around the world.

The Pentagon, in a brief statement Tuesday, said Carlucci had sided with civilian manpower officials in ordering the cuts and that his decision “is final.”

The civilian officials had asserted that at least 3,000 to 3,500 jobs could be eliminated from allegedly bloated command staffs, with the people assigned to more important combat units. The Joint Chiefs of Staff had countered that the reductions should be limited to no more than 500 positions.

No Damage to Readiness

“The secretary of defense has adopted all of the recommendations that he felt could be accomplished without hurting military readiness,” the Pentagon said. “With the reduction of 3,000 spaces, the secretary of defense has determined that he has accomplished his initial review objectives, which were to reduce manpower levels and overhead costs by eliminating overlapping responsibilities, duplication of functions and excessive layering of organization echelons.”

Carlucci’s order had its genesis in an internal study he ordered last December, shortly after he assumed the defense secretary post.

The study was performed by a 22-member panel chaired by Derek J. Vander Schaaf, the Pentagon’s deputy inspector general. In unusually blunt terms, it concluded in February that the Pentagon could eliminate 7,309 jobs from multiservice military headquarters around the world--or 12% of the total--without jeopardizing readiness.

The Pentagon said the cuts ordered by Carlucci are to be completed by Sept. 30, 1991, and will affect civilian and military staff.

The military members will be “reinvested in validated positions in combat units or medical units,” the Pentagon said. “The civilian personnel will be offered other employment opportunities by the department’s Priority Placement Program. We do not anticipate that many, if any (civilian) personnel will actually lose their jobs.”