Leigh Method, deputy assistant secretary of the Department of Defense (DOD) for Logistics, has said that her office is looking to clarify defense policies involving contracted personnel, contingency operations and DOD-contractor responsibilities.
Method said in a Federal News Network interview aired Thursday that the DOD seeks to modify rules in the Federal Register to define DOD contractors as part of the department’s total force.
The new rules also seek to clarify DOD and contractor requirements such as pre-deployment health assessments, she added.
Speaking on operational support for deployed personnel, Method said that her office worked to help U.S. contractors overseas as well as international contractors in the country to return home amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
She noted that the recent rule changes highlight "the vital capabilities that our contractors bring to the battlefield.”
“So we really are about being good stewards of the taxpayer dollars,” said Method. “At the same time, while they’re essentially in our care or in our theater operating, we want to make sure we are doing right by them as an individual but also by the contract and the American public.”