Think Tank Focuses on Manpower and Defense Industrial Base

At the press briefing on October 15, 2008 the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments today released two new Strategy for the Long Haul Initiative reports:>> -- Military Manpower for the Long Haul (84 pages in PDF format) by CSBAs Vice President for Budget Studies Steven Kosiak. This report discusses the requirements and challenges confronting military manpower in coming years. It considers a range of proposals for improving recruitment and retention efforts, including both relatively narrow traditional options and new, broader approaches.>> Kosiak believes the United States must continue to make use of traditional tools like enlistment bonuses, but that it should also consider significantly reforming the militarys personnel management and compensation systems. Among other things, we need to allow for greater flexibility in the length of assignments and careers in the military, as well as compensation levels for different specialties, Kosiak noted at the briefing.>> -- The US Defense Industrial Base: Past, Present and Future (108 pages in PDF format) by CSBAs Senior Fellow Barry Watts. The report reviews the industrys performance since World War II; considers the role of the federal government in facilitating a more efficient and effective structure; and raises the question of what may need to be done to ensure that the industrial base can meet the requirements of the US military Services in coming decades.>> Watts concluded that the US defense industrial base has been an important source of competitive advantage for the United States since the 1950s. Notwithstanding well known and nagging problems with cost and schedule in individual acquisition programs, it has produced world-class military systems and weapons. However, the federal government has generally taken a hands off approach to managing the industrial base.