DOGE’s Real Challenge in the Pentagon Isn’t Slashing the Workforce, It’s Boosting Productivity

[rangerrebew]

DOGE’s Real Challenge in the Pentagon Isn’t Slashing the Workforce, It’s Boosting Productivity
Erik Schuh
March 25, 2025
 
When I served at U.S. Air Forces Europe, a daily 15-minute briefing took 43 hours of staff work. This wasn’t an outlier — it was the norm. With the largest discretionary spending item in the federal budget and massive inefficiencies, the Defense Department might seem an obvious target for the Department of Government Efficiency — known as DOGE. With roughly 2.8 million personnel, the Department of Defense spends $299 billion on personnel costs, with billions more allocated towards contractors performing similar jobs. Manpower alone accounts for one-third of the defense budget.

Although DOGE has focused largely on sweeping budget cuts, its core purpose is to modernize federal technology and software to maximize governmental efficiency and productivity. Despite the Department of Defense’s focus on combat efficiency, rarely is there a meaningful push to improve productivity. DOGE could address this gap and strengthen military readiness by automating administrative tasks, streamlining bureaucratic processes, and modernizing information technology systems.
 
The Problem: Administrative Burdens and Outdated Systems

Despite being a warfighting organization, a significant portion of Department of Defense personnel dedicate substantial time to administrative work. Staff officers devote most of their time to formatting PowerPoint briefings and warfighters are often bogged down by bureaucratic paperwork rather than focusing on mission-critical tasks.

https://warontherocks.com/2025/03/doges-real-challenge-in-the-pentagon-isnt-slashing-the-workforce-its-boosting-productivity/

[MeganC]

All manner of government agencies from the local irrigation district to the DoD are rife with a bureaucratic culture that stymies productivity. Meetings and micromanagers and endless layers of approval chains not only prevent things from getting done they actively discourage and even punish people who get things done.

One of the things that Musk must do is to destroy this utterly frustrating office culture that has American productivity by the throat.

[Canuck Conservative]

90% of meetings are a waste of time ... employees just use it as an excuse to have a coffee break, joke around, or wake up.

Most employees never speak up or add anything at the meetings, so the information only flows one way ... that can be easily replaced with a mass e-mail