DoD MS Human Capital Strategy 20101202 - Modeling & Simulation ...

Challenge 9 - DoD M&S Workforce
The M&S community, while diverse, is surprisingly insular. Many individuals entered the field
because of a duty assignment and then remained in the field to become M&S careerists. The
current M&S “workforce” is, in reality, a mix of active military, government civilian employees
and non-government contractors. In many cases, key M&S facilities and programs are
supported by private industry contractors or other non-government personnel. This trend is
due to limited availability of military officers and the limited number of government civilian
employees with the requisite knowledge and expertise in M&S. This has resulted, in many
cases, in work that should be inherently government being performed by contractors. In these
cases, it is assumed that the government’s best interests are being championed, despite not
having direct government involvement. Since M&S reaches all aspects of the military industrial
process, making such an assumption is questionable. On the other hand, the use of civilian
contractors is critical to the successful operation of many M&S facilities and resources. In many
instances, the contractor staff is made up of prior military personnel that bring with them
valuable (and often essential) knowledge and experience and that allow for long-term
continuity of operations.
Impact to DoD M&S Workforce: A DoD M&S workforce consisting of the appropriate mix of
military, government civilian employees and contractor personnel will allow for M&S to be
managed and integrated into all organizations throughout the Services, and DoD M&S
communities. As managers, M&S professionals will be assigned to higher-level headquarters
throughout the Services and the DoD to develop M&S policy and provide resource and
management oversight. Military officers will provide relevant and current operational
experience while the government civilian employees will provide stability and long-term
continuity. Contractors will continue to be critical in the field of M&S but will not be
responsible for performing inherently government work. As an integrated whole, the DoD
M&S workforce will be characterized as doers, implementers, trainers, managers, advisors,
planners, facilitators, integrators, fabricators, improvisers and visionaries.
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