The Pentagon will lay off nearly 80 percent of the staff of its Defense Technical Information Center, its repository of research-and-development data and lessons, Defense officials announced today.
The move aims to eliminate duplicative functions and roles while refocusing DTIC to “its core statutory mission of administering a library of technical information and improving the user experience,” Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement emailed to reporters. Parnell said that this reduction in force would save $25 million.
[Editor’s note: The cuts were directed by Defense Undersecretary for Research and Engineering Emil Michael, who issued the order in an Aug. 4. memo.
“The Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC) was created to serve as a centralized repository ofR&D information, allowing DoD to easily and effectively leverage and share technical knowledge,” Michael wrote in the memo. “However, its unfocused organizational model and legacy information platform are not suited to keep pace with global R&D, take advantage of Artificial Intelligence (AI), or integrate with other data and intelligence systems that support strategic deterrence-impacting R&D investment decisions by the Department of Defense.”]
A total of 40 personnel will be retained at the office, having been identified as mission-essential, and all other civilians will receive notices of reduction-in-force by Aug. 25. That marks a nearly 80% reduction from the 193 employees working in that office as of September 2024, per Office of Personnel Management employment data.
DTIC was founded in 1945 to gather the U.S. military’s burgeoning technical knowledge. Today, according to its website, the office is responsible for sharing DOD’s science and technology investment with all of the services, “enabling lab scientists, engineers, and researchers to build upon past and present research.”
The move follows the Pentagon’s May announcement of similar cuts at the Office of the Director, Operational Test and Evaluation. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said at the time that the removals, which reduced the 94 staffers at DOT&E to 30 civilians and 15 service members, was a result of a “comprehensive internal review” that identified duplicative roles and positions in the office.
In February, roughly 61,000 Defense employees’ jobs were terminated, beginning with probationary employees, as part of the Department of Government Efficiency’s broad cuts across the federal government to restructure agency operations and reduce federal spending.
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