AFMC Civilian Retention: Forecasting Policy on the Future of the Civilian Workforce

The achievement of the Department of Defense's (DOD) mission is dependent in large part on the skills and expertise of its civilian workforce. DOD's civilian workforce develops policy, provides intelligence, manages finances, and acquires and maintains weapon systems to name a few areas of expertise. During its downsizing in the early 1990's, the DOD did not focus on reshaping the civilian workforce in a strategic manner. This resulted in a workforce characterized by a growing gap between older, knowledgeable employees and younger, less experienced ones. As of November 2005, there are currently three Department of Defense directives that address the long term career progression of civilian workers available for public review. There are several directives that are not available for public view under the DOD website (www.defenselink.mil) and are currently being reviewed by the Office of the Secretary of Defense at the time of this research. An assumptional analysis was used to evaluate DOD, AF, and AFMC civilian workforce career progression using the eight variables of knowledge transfer, pay, performance, opportunities for promotion, workplace environment, education, leave, and motivation. The research concludes with an institutional forecasting policy of where to correct the identified gaps in DOD, AF, and AFMC policy to strengthen this vital element to the DOD mission.