Workforce Acceleration & Recapitalization Initiative Organizational Review

On April 7, 2025, Deputy Secretary of Defense issued a memorandum operationalizing the Department of Defense (DOD) civilian workforce reduction initiative. The memo directs DOD components to submit reorganization proposals identifying "opportunities to reduce or eliminate redundant or non-essential functions," with implementation occurring over the remainder of fiscal years 2025 and 2026. An attached document titled "Guiding Principles for The Department of Defense Workforce Optimization" established a framework for retaining civilian positions: "every role must now meet a simple test: If this position didn't exist today, and we were at war tomorrow, would we create it? If the answer is no, it should be consolidated, restructured, or eliminated." The attachment listed seven principles to guide agency reorganization proposals. These include aims to consolidate duplicate functions and overlapping offices and flatten hierarchies by eliminating "excessive layers of supervision and middle management." The guidance also enumerated specific examples of positions and offices targeted for review, including GS-14 or GS-15 management positions supervising fewer than three employees; offices whose primary function is to track documents between systems or coordinate between other offices; organizations with multiple functional leads such as Chief Information Officers, Chief Human Capital Officers, or Chief Financial Officers, etc.