EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif -- The Air Force announced civilian hiring controls to reduce projected growth in the civilian workforce, a result of Secretary of Defense Robert Gate’s initiative to maintain civilian manning at fiscal 2010 levels. Effective immediately, one person would be hired for every two new vacancies in areas affected by hiring controls.
Gates' tenure with the Obama administration included a huge shift in military spending. In April 2009, Gates proposed a large shift in budget priorities in the U.S. Department of Defense 2010 budget. The budget cuts included many programs geared toward conventional warfare, such as the end of new orders of the F-22 Raptor, and further development of Future Combat Systems manned vehicles. However, these cuts were counterbalanced by increases in funding for programs like the special forces. Gates called this the "nation's first truly 21st century defense budget. In late April 2010, he suggested the Navy cease funding development of a new multibillion-dollar ballistic missile submarine program on the grounds of cost and relevancy. He suggested the hundreds of billions of dollars would be better spent on a new generation of vessels tailored to the threats and tactics more likely to be faced, noting, "Mark my words, the Navy and Marine Corps must be willing to re-examine and question basic assumptions in light of evolving technologies, new threats and budget realities. In a speech made on May 8, 2010, Gates stated that he would make politically unpopular cuts to the Pentagon bureaucracy in his future budgets. It was announced in August 2010 that Gates was trying to find $100 billion in Defense savings through to 2015, in order to instill a "culture of savings and restraint" in the military. Secretary Gates said that "It is important that we do not repeat the mistakes of the past, where tough economic times or the winding down of a military campaign leads to steep and unwise reductions in defense". Gates said "As a matter of principle and political reality, the Department of Defense cannot expect America's elected representatives to approve budget increases each year unless we are doing a good job, indeed everything possible, to make every dollar count". These cuts included the closing of the Joint Forces Command, the redundancy of fifty general and admirals, and the removal of 150 senior civilian positions.