Updated February 15, 2022
Defense Primer: Department of Defense Civilian Employees
Background
civilians may supervise servicemembers when authorized.
Federal employment evolved into a civil service system in
DOD’s defense civilian OBP data are in Table 1.
the late 1800s. It replaced a spoils system that allowed each
presidential administration to appoint its political supporters
Table 1. Estimated Defense Civilian OBP
as federal employees. Congress established the current
Component
FY20
FY21
FY22
federal civil service system with the Civil Service Reform
Act of 1978 (P.L. 95-454). Its primary features are merit-
Army
190,899
194,128
196,111
based hiring and merit system principles.
Civil Service
Navy
196,767
198,614
200,248
The civil service consists of three subservices: competitive,
Marine Corps
22,206
22,553
22,653
excepted, and senior executive. The competitive service is
the largest and the Office of Personnel Management (OPM)
Air Force
169,736
177,453
180,515
administers it. The excepted service is distinguishable by its
agency-level administration and selection procedures. The
DOD
215,768
221,275
214,188
senior executive service (SES) is less than one percent of
the civil service. OPM centrally manages SES selections
Total
795,376
814,023
813,715
with its merit staffing procedure and qualifications review
board (QRB). The QRB must verify and certify an SES
Source: DOD, Defense Manpower Profile Report – Fiscal Year 2022,
aspirant’s executive core qualifications (ECQs). While
July 2021, p. 2.
OPM generally oversees the civil service, the following
Notes: Air Force includes Space Force civilians.
entities have specific oversight responsibilities:
Defense Civilian Management
 Office of Special Counsel (OSC);
The Secretary of Defense must establish policies and

procedures for determining the most appropriate and cost
Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB); and
efficient categories of personnel to perform DOD’s mission.
 Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).
These category determinations must prioritize the
attainment of DOD’s missions over considerations of costs
Just under a third of the civil service is in, or represented
(10 U.S.C. §129a).
by, a union. Managers, supervisors, and servicemembers
are excluded from unions, as are certain workforces. The
The Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and
Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA) oversees
Readiness (USD(P&R)) is the principal DOD official with
dealings between unions and federal employers.
responsibility for defense civilian policy and programs. The
USD(P&R) also is the federal government’s statutorily
Civil Service Data
designated Chief Human Capital Officer (CHCO) for DOD.
There are two common ways to enumerate civil servants:
All DOD managers and supervisors of civilians must adhere
the full-time equivalent (FTE) and the on-board personnel
to the federal civil service merit system principles and are
(OBP) methods. Federal agencies typically use FTE for
prohibited from engaging in certain personnel practices (5
budget data and OBP for employment data. An FTE unit is
U.S.C. §§2301, 2302).
a 2,080 hour work year; an OBP unit is one employee. FTE
quantifies employment as the number of hours worked at
DOD may not reduce the projected FTE of the civilian
the end of a fiscal year (FY), irrespective of the number of
workforce without conducting all required analyses of how
the reduction will affect its “
employees. OBP quantifies employment as the number of
workload, military force
employees working on the last day of a FY quarter. An FTE
structure, lethality, readiness, operational effectiveness,
count can be less than an OBP count as more than one OBP
stress on the military force, and fully burdened costs” (10
unit can equal one FTE unit, such as part-time employees.
U.S.C. §129a) (Table 2).
Defense Civilians
The legal framework governing defense civilians is
included in Titles 5, 10, and 29 of the U.S. Code, as well as
Civilians are employed as civil servants in the Department
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. These laws are
of Defense (DOD) consistent with its annual appropriations
implemented in general federal regulations and in specific
for direct hire employees. Around 80% of them are in the
DOD directives, regulations, and instructions that are to be
competitive service and all of them fill positions that do not
issued only when necessary to meet DOD-unique needs or
require military personnel. Servicemembers and other
to supplement federal civil service policy. DOD policies,
defense civilians may supervise civilians. Likewise, defense
procedures, and programs for managing defense civilians
apply to all DOD components.
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Defense Primer: Department of Defense Civilian Employees
Table 2. Projected Defense Civilians FTE
OPM’s SES selection and qualification review process. The
Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security
FTE
DA
DON
DAF
DOD
Total
(USD(I&S)), in coordination with the USD(P&R), is
FY21
194,128
221,843
171,141 254,761
841,873
responsible for DCIPS policy and programs. The Director
of National Intelligence (DNI) may prescribe intelligence
FY22
196,111
223,113
172,744 249,284
841,252
community personnel policy and programs applicable to
DCIPS after consulting with the USD(I&S) and the
FY23
197,107
223,279
176,434 250,609
847,429
Secretary of Defense.
FY24
197,181
223,440
176,529 251,580
848,730
Cyber Civilians
FY25
197,222
222,083
176,626 251,749
847,680
The Cyber Excepted Service (CES) is a DOD cyber
personnel system for certain defense civilians in the cyber
FY26
196,949
221,941
177,292 251,755
847,937
workforce (10 U.S.C §1599f). It was established to employ
Source: DOD, Defense Manpower Profile Report – Fiscal Year 2022,
civil servants capable of performing functions related to
July 2021, pp. 91, 95, 102, 105, 107, and 108-168 (DOD elements).
cyber operations. CES includes pay-banding and rank-in-
Notes: DA denotes Department of the Army; DON, Navy; DAF,
person provisions similar to those in DCIPS. The DOD
Air Force; DOD, Defense. DON includes Navy and Marine Corps
Chief Information Officer (CIO) is responsible for
civilians; DAF, includes Air Force and Space Force civilians.
developing CES policy and providing recommended policy
issuances to the USD(P&R).
Defense Civilian Workforces
Most civil service appointments in DOD are made under
Defense Civilian Diversity
Title 5, U.S. Code. Other DOD appointments are made for
The purpose of DOD’s diversity and inclusion management
positions or workforces managed under Title 10, U.S. Code.
program is to promote a workforce reflecting the diversity
The largest specialized workforces cover areas such as
of the United States (Table 3). Program goals include an
acquisition functions, intelligence activities, and cyberspace
inclusive culture that enables differences among personnel.
operations
DOD-wide equal employment opportunity (EEO) formal
complaint data are in Table 4.
Acquisition Civilians
The Defense Acquisition Workforce is defined as any
Table 3. Selected Defense Civilian Demographic Data
defense civilian in an acquisition career field fulfilling an
acquisition role and performing an acquisition function (See
Category
DA
DON
DAF
DOD
Ch. 87, Title 10, U.S. Code). While some civilian
Women
46%
29%
30%
25%
acquisition positions are statutorily designated, most are
classified as such based on policy and guidance for defense
Black/African American
21%
14%
13%
11%
acquisition employment. Acquisition civilians must
Hispanic
11%
6%
9%
4%
participate in workforce programs for defense acquisition
training, education, experience, and career development.
Asian/Pacific Islander
6%
11%
4%
3%
The Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and
Sustainment (USD(A&S)) is responsible for the policy,
Amer. Indian/AK Native
1%
1%
1%
0.4%
direction, and oversight of the Defense Acquisition
Source: DOD, ODEI Demographic Infographics.
Workforce. This includes appointing a Human Capital
Notes: DA denotes Department of the Army; DON, Navy; DAF,
Initiatives (HCI) Executive Director to carry out all
Air Force; DOD, Defense.
workforce statutory duties, powers, and functions of the
Secretary of Defense.
Table 4. Selected DOD-wide FY20 EEO Complaints
Intelligence Civilians
Basis
Formal
Settled
Finding
The defense intelligence workforce is in the Defense
Civilian Intelligence Personnel System (DCIPS) (See Ch.
Race
1,996
754
5
83, Title 10, U.S. Code). It is an excepted service system.
Color
868
277
0
The DCIPS rank-in-person provision permits retention of
pay level for any assigned role or position. Its pay-banding
Reprisal
2,327
983
20
provision allows DCIPS employees to qualify for a pay
Sex
1,867
777
4
level without having to satisfy requisite grade or service
requirements, if applicable. All DCIPS employees serving
Nat’l Origin
486
248
1
in defense intelligence senior level (DISL) and defense
Age
1,353
483
3
intelligence senior executive service (DISES) positions also
are in the excepted service. DISES positions are capped at
Disability
2,085
875
22
594 (10 U.S.C. §1606); there are no limits on the number of
Source: DOD FY 2020 Notification and No FEAR Act Report, pp. 8-10.
DISL positions. Salaries for DISES and DISL employees
are based on the government-wide SES and senior level pay
scales. Although managed and compensated within the
Alan Ott, Analyst in Defense and Intelligence Personnel
defense intelligence workforce as executive equivalents,
Policy
DISES employees are not part of the SES and do not
IF11510
qualify to serve in SES positions without completing
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Defense Primer: Department of Defense Civilian Employees


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