The Defense Department “is on target to meet the aggressive efficiency goals set in the fiscal year 2012 budget,” Pentagon Press Secretary George Little said.
Little said fiscal 2012 savings will total just under $20 billion. The fiscal 2012 budget outlines $150 billion in overall savings from “efficiencies” –- improved business practices and reduced overhead – spread over fiscal years 2012 through 2016, Little noted.
“Earlier this year Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta announced an additional $60 billion in efficiencies between fiscal year ’13 and ’17,” he said. “The department is currently developing implementation plans to reach those goals, and we are confident they can be realized.”
Defense components have developed implementation plans for the fiscal 2012 savings goals, Little said, and have reported to Panetta that they are meeting their monetary targets.
“The secretary is personally involved in the efficiencies effort. This is consistent with his focus on more discipline in business operations, to include audit readiness and improved internal controls,” Little said.
There are more than 300 separate efficiency initiatives, which Little said “add up to a lot of money in this department.”
Eliminating redundant financial reporting and reducing service support contracts will net an estimated $17 million in savings in fiscal 2012 for the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Little reported.
