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DoD civilians to fill some war zone jobs

The Pentagon is creating an expeditionary force that will send its civilian employees to hot spots around the world — and it wants to start by filling 157 job openings in Afghanistan and Iraq.

This global force of Defense Department civilian employees will be available to take “individual augmentee” positions in Joint Staff Headquarters previously filled by military personnel or contractors.

The civilian members will be able to “respond on a dime like our military does,” said Patricia Bradshaw, deputy undersecretary of defense for civilian personnel policy.

Defense Department civilians have previously demonstrated an interest in such jobs. Bradshaw noted that when the State Department asked the Pentagon for help in filling 100 jobs on provincial reconstruction teams in Iraq, more than 1,500 Defense Department civilians sent in resumes.

The jobs were filled. But while others expressed an interest in serving, the Pentagon lacked an infrastructure to support that interest.

The new force is designed to meet that need, Bradshaw said.

“When you look at the duties that need to be performed in theater — and particularly as the [security] situation becomes more permissive — it provides opportunities for DoD civilians to serve,” she said.

Current jobs open in all areas of the world range from strategic planner, country desk officer and logistics manager to budget analyst, public affairs officer and utility foreman.

Civilian employees will receive cultural and language training and force protection training, and must meet medical requirements, Bradshaw said.

Two key guarantees are woven into the program, according to a February memo from David S.C. Chu, undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness: If an employee volunteers, they “will be released for deployment” unless deemed “mission-critical”; and when the one-year or six-month assignment is complete, employees must be able to return to their old jobs or similar jobs.

Volunteering for such assignments will be considered career-enhancing, officials say.

The Pentagon says more than 16,000 DoD civilians have served in the U.S. Central Command area of operations since 2001 in jobs as engineers, logistics specialists, weapons inspectors, administrative specialists and on provincial reconstruction teams.

Check out the job openings