The Defense Department (DoD) said today it is reorganizing its Office of the Director, Operational Test and Evaluation (DOT&E), and that the downsizing will remove “redundancy in the defense acquisition system.”
“These actions will save more than $300 million per year and reflect the Department’s commitment to continued reform and reducing bureaucracy,” said Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in a May 27 memo.
Hegseth also named Carroll Quade – who is now the deputy for test and evaluation for the Department of the Navy – to perform the duties of the director of ODOT&E and oversee the reorganization.
The office was created by Congress in 1983 to advise the defense secretary “on all DoD matters related to operational (OT&E) and live fire test and evaluation (LFT&E) of DoD systems and services acquired via the Defense Acquisition System,” according to the office’s website. The head of the office is nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate.
According to a statement issued by DoD today, the restructuring is being undertaken as “part of the Department’s commitment to rebuild our military, ensure lethality, and reestablish deterrence while advancing broader efficiency initiatives.”
The restructuring, the department said, “eliminates redundancy in the defense acquisition system, returns DOT&E to its statutory intent as an oversight body, and empowers the Services and Combatant Commands with greater trust to ensure the warfighter is efficiently equipped to address emerging challenges and to preserve our decisive advantage.”
“A comprehensive internal review has identified redundant, nonessential, non-statutory functions within ODOT &E that do not support operational agility or resource efficiency, affecting our ability to rapidly and effectively deploy the best systems to the warfighter,” Hegseth said in his May 27 memo.
The memo instructs ODOT&E to “immediately eliminate any non-statutory or redundant functions, reducing bureaucratic overhead and driving greater efficiency,” and then to cut its staff down to 30 civilian positions and 15 military personnel. Some civilian employees may be returned to the military departments that employ them, and others will be cut through reductions in force.