The Defense of Defense has announced a major shake-up at the Defense Technical Information Center, promising to streamline its operations and significantly reduce its staff.
Emil Michael, under secretary of defense for research and engineering, noted Monday in a memo the importance of sharing and leveraging technical knowledge gained from U.S.-funded research and development projects through the DTIC. But the center’s outdated information platform and structure limit its ability to keep pace with U.S. allies and enemies, he wrote.
“Its unfocused organizational model and legacy information platform are not suited to keep pace with global R&D, take advantage of Artificial Intelligence (AI), or integrate with other data and intelligence systems that support strategic deterrence-impacting R&D investment decisions by the Department of Defense,” the memo reads.
The Pentagon also ordered an “AI-first digital transformation of DTIC,” though it did not elaborate.
Founded in 1945, the Defense Technical Information Center is the Defense Department’s central repository for R&D information. The DTIC’s vast collection of scientific and technical information gleaned from U.S. defense projects is a valuable asset to current Pentagon researchers.
The information center also shares a significant amount of its stored information with contractors and academic institutions across the defense industrial base.
Mr. Michael’s memo announced an upcoming streamlining effort at the DTIC, aiming to reduce the center’s staff to 40 civilian positions and one Senior Executive Service member serving as an administrator. The cuts constitute a nearly 80% reduction from the 193 employees working at the center in September 2024.
The Pentagon announced on July 29 that Silvana Rubino-Hallman will take over as acting administrator of DTIC and will oversee the layoffs over the next month. Ms. Rubion-Hallman will also conduct a “zero-based core mission review” over all contracting personnel and will issue any stop-work orders if appropriate.
“This decision eliminates duplicative functions and will refocus DTIC to its core statutory mission of administering a library of technical information and improving the user experience,” chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said Monday in a statement.
The memo said that the cuts are expected to save the Pentagon about $25 million per year.
The DTIC changes are a part of the current administration’s efforts to cut costs and streamline department operations. The changes echo cuts made to the Office of the Director, Operational Test and Evaluation in May, when Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth cut its staffing from 94 to 30 civilians.
Correction: In a previous version of the story, the name of the Defense Technical Information Center was listed incorrectly.
• Vaughn Cockayne can be reached at vcockayne@washingtontimes.com.