Military Out-Sourcing: Observations, Opportunities, Conflicts and Recommendations

Abstract

The nature of warfare and defense readiness is changing. New roles, responsibilities, and requirements within the military-industrial relationship are emerging. Today's battlespace is characterized by nonlinear battlefields, asymmetric threats, global engagement, and interagency dependence. A capabilities-based military must be agile, flexible, and rapidly deployable if it is to successfully fulfill its mission. As in the past, the industrial partners of the Defense Department are essential to provide the necessary capabilities for the Armed Services. It is, therefore, important to critically examine the military-industrial relationship in light of recent trends, observations, and strategic defense guidance concerning defense outsourcing to ensure that it is headed in the right direction. The purpose of this essay is, therefore, to describe recent trends and observations regarding military outsourcing, both defense outsourcing and outsourcing of the military for homeland security agencies; suggest opportunities for the future; discuss potential issues concerning Defense outsourcing; and offer recommendations so the military-industrial-societal relationship can best meet the Nation's requirements. Observations include the impact of transformation and network-centric operations on defense outsourcing within a volatile and uncertain national security environment. Opportunities for outsourcing include retention of institutional knowledge, assistance with generating a network-centric force, and cost savings. Potential areas of conflict include the domestic use of the military to fight terrorism and the asymmetric nature of warfare. Recommendations are offered that suggest areas for defense outsourcing and concern the domestic employment of the National Guard for homeland security.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
May 01, 2005
Accession Number
ADA498427

Entities

People

  • Olin O. Oedekoven

Organizations

  • Naval Postgraduate School

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • C4I
  • Counter WMD
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Human Systems

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Acquisition
  • Business Administration
  • Command And Control
  • Contingency Operations (Military)
  • Department Of Defense
  • Employment
  • Governments
  • Homeland Security
  • Logistics
  • Management Personnel
  • Military Science
  • Military Training
  • National Security
  • Organizational Structure
  • Public Policy
  • Students
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Defense Acquisition Program Management
  • Economics
  • Maritime Combat Support and Expeditionary Logistics.