The Department of Defense (DoD) announced today that it plans to reduce the number of personnel working at its scientific archive center to refocus on the “core mission and save taxpayer dollars.”
Directed by the under secretary for research and engineering, the move will see the Defense Technology Information Center (DTIC) reduce its civilian workforce.
DTIC serves as the principal repository for government-funded research related to science, engineering, and business within the DoD. Its mission is to harness decades of innovation and ensure those insights accelerate future military capabilities.
“This decision eliminates duplicative functions and will refocus DTIC to its core statutory mission of administering a library of technical information and improving the user experience,” the department said.
As part of the restructuring, DTIC will remain focused on four core priorities: preserving and disseminating defense-related research, enabling the research and engineering community, fostering innovation through public access to DoD research, and maximizing investment value through data analysis.
Although the post-cut size – 40 mission-essential staff – is known, the number of eliminated positions and affected job titles remains unclear.
According to its announcement, the DoD expects to save over $25 million in this realignment, contributing to the DoD’s ongoing efforts to “improve efficiency and reduce bureaucracy.”
The changes are in line with a larger initiative led by President Donald Trump to reduce the Federal civilian workforce by 5 to 8 percent, a plan that could affect up to 70,000 DoD civilian positions.
To date, approximately 21,000 civilians have exited the department under early retirement and Deferred Resignation Program efforts.
“This effort ensures we preserve the critical functions of DTIC while aligning the organization with the department’s strategic goals for efficiency, innovation, and warfighter support,” a DoD spokesperson said.
Impacted DTIC employees will receive specific reduction-in-force notices, though leadership emphasizes that essential operations and support to the warfighter will continue uninterrupted.