Pentagon To Cut Thousands of Jobs

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates announced on Monday that the Pentagon will cut thousands of jobs, which includes a large number of contractors and a major military command that will be eliminated around the Norfolk, Virginia area. All this in an effort to streamline its operations and to prevent further cuts to defense spending in the years ahead.

Defense Secretary will propose the elimination of the Joint Forces Command, which employs about 2,800 military and civilian personnel as well as 3,300 contractors, most of them in southeastern Virginia. He also said he will terminate two other Pentagon agencies, impose a 10 percent cut in intelligence advisory contracts and slim down what he called a "top-heavy hierarchy" by thinning the ranks of admirals and generals by at least 50 positions.

The initiatives Gates detailed are part of his previously announced effort to save $100 billion over five years by trimming overhead and shrinking bureaucracy so that more money can be spent on troops and weapons.

This is long overdue as the Department of Defense needed some controls in its spending appetite, but the real issue will be weather or not Congress will go along with reducing spending at the Pentagon. Too often members of both parties use the Department of Defense as a cash cow that brings home the dollars to their states and districts. It remains to be seen if Secretary Gates' proposal will becomes a reality, or if Washington will serve up another disappointment.