Lawmakers want fewer contractors doing training

Lawmakers want fewer contractors doing training
By Jim Tice - Staff writer
Posted : Saturday Jun 12, 2010 9:36:25 EDT

The Army’s increasing reliance on contractors to train its soldiers has raised red flags around the Army and in Congress.

Legislative interest in the health of the Army’s training community was sparked by a memo from early this year, in which the service’s senior training officer, Gen. Martin Dempsey, told Army Chief of Staff Gen. George Casey of a chronic shortage of soldiers for training duty, and an increased reliance on contractors to perform key training functions.

In that Feb. 16 memo, titled “Erosion of Training and Doctrine Command’s Core Competencies,” Dempsey, the commander of Training and Doctrine Command, said less than one-third of the instructors in Army schools are military.

Army Secretary John McHugh said Thursday that Dempsey’s memo had brought to light the Army’s diminishing ability to train quality officers.

The shortages, caused by operational commitments to Iraq and Afghanistan, have hindered TRADOC’s ability to develop new doctrine and integrate lessons learned into training programs, according to Dempsey.



unhappycamper comment: Is the military having 'buyers remorse' about outsourcing?