Statement to Employees by Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, General Michael V. Hayden on Contractor Study

Last November, I announced the creation of a study group to review CIA’s use of contractors and develop a management strategy consistent with Strategic Intent. The study [was briefed] to our Corporate Governance Board last week, and I want to tell you about some changes we will make based on the findings.

At the heart of the study is a clear recognition of the vital role contractors play in supporting our mission. They serve alongside staff officers on the front lines of the war on terrorism and in other critical assignments. We do not simply appreciate their skill and expertise—we rely on it.

But we also recognize that CIA has not efficiently managed our contractor workforce, which grew out of staff hiring freezes in the 1990s and our greatly expanded ops tempo after 9/11. We must now begin to address these inefficiencies and ensure that our Agency has the proper mix of staff and contractors to meet current and future challenges.

To show how we can use contractors most appropriately, the study identified Agency jobs that must or should be filled primarily by staff officers and those that could be done by staff or contractors. The Office of Human Resources has been tasked to complete this review and report back to me within 30 days. Having examined the data we have right now, I believe CIA can reduce its number of contractors by 10 percent before the end of FY 2008 and still accomplish our national security mission.

To help make us more efficient, our Chief Financial Officer, will work with the Directorates to find ways to combine their support and infrastructure requirements. The Directorate of Support will be given exclusive authority to contract for such services. Our CFO will make our contracting processes more rigorous, including the transition of certain contracts to a performance-based model and an initiative to conduct in-depth reviews of contract performance and management. We will revamp our current training and certification process for Contracting Officer Technical Representatives (COTR) to ensure that certification levels are tied more closely to the scope, value, risk, and technical complexity of the contract.

Other measures seek to prevent CIA from becoming what I call a farm team for contractors. All Requests for Proposals and contracts issued after 1 June will bar contracting firms from bidding back within 18 months former CIA employees who resigned before retirement eligibility. We also will encourage contractors to become staff employees in those occupations requiring a higher proportion of staff, and we will expedite the process for moving from a green to blue badge.

The contractor study is a great service both to our Agency and the American people. The recommendations will create a more efficient balance of staff and contractors and put the hard work and know-how of both groups to better use in fulfilling our shared mission. I will keep you updated as we implement these important initiatives.

Mike Hayden