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Entire Pentagon defense tech unit to leave by May
The Hill ^ | 4/15/25 | Ellen Mitchell

Posted on 04/16/2025 1:59:54 AM PDT by Libloather

The entire staff of the Defense Digital Service (DDS), the Pentagon’s decade-old technology development office, is leaving by the start of May, with nearly all individuals resigning, a current member of the office confirmed to The Hill on Tuesday.

The mass exodus, first reported by Politico, means the service will effectively shutter in less than a month.

Of the 14 members of the office, a dozen including Director Jennifer Hay have requested the Trump administration’s deferred resignation option and plan to leave by May 1. Two other staffers are also leaving in that time frame.

“Although DDS was excited to support DoD’s efforts to improve efficiencies and champion software modernization initiatives, the Administration was not leveraging DDS and hiring freezes, rescinding remote work, and travel restrictions were making us non-mission capable,” the current office member told The Hill. “As a result, most of the team elected to resign.”

A Pentagon spokesperson did not provide any additional information when asked for comment on the resignations.

Created in 2015, the Defense Digital Service was meant to help the Pentagon quickly solve technology challenges. The small team of engineers and data experts who made up the office were meant to bring Silicon Valley-style solutions to the Defense Department, a mammoth federal agency that historically struggles with quick innovation.

Then-Defense Secretary Ash Carter said at the time the DDS would “apply a more innovative and agile approach to solving DoD’s complex IT problems,” such as cloud computing and artificial intelligence (AI).

(Excerpt) Read more at thehill.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Conspiracy; Local News; Military/Veterans
KEYWORDS: 2015; 20250501; ai; ashcarter; dds; defense; jenniferhay; pentagon; remotework; software; tech; travel; unit
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To: Libloather

So if it’s all been said and done
I’ve got to move, I’ve had my fun
Well let me walk before they make me run
Oh let me walk before they make me run
I want to walk before they make me run
Before they make me run


21 posted on 04/16/2025 5:05:07 AM PDT by dennisw (💯🇺🇸 Truth is Hate to those who Hate the Truth. 🇺🇸💯)
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To: dennisw

But under pressure from the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by billionaire Elon Musk, those in the office decided to leave before they were effectively forced out, Politico reported.

The group thought they might be used to help DOGE automate the Pentagon’s operations via AI, but Musk’s team has declined to do so, according to the outlet.


22 posted on 04/16/2025 5:06:52 AM PDT by dennisw (💯🇺🇸 Truth is Hate to those who Hate the Truth. 🇺🇸💯)
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To: Pollard

Twenty years experience after graduating college? That makes her about 40. Not by that pic she’s not.


23 posted on 04/16/2025 5:09:31 AM PDT by Bloody Sam Roberts (Perfection is impossible. But if you pursue perfection...you may achieve excellence.)
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To: Libloather

I am sure those folk can get other jobs quickly. That means they can “double dip” for six months. Good for them. Good for the country.


24 posted on 04/16/2025 5:21:13 AM PDT by Vermont Lt
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To: Libloather

And just like that, MS-DOS and Windows for Workgroups become things of the past....


25 posted on 04/16/2025 5:25:14 AM PDT by trebb (So many fools - so little time...)
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To: Vermont Lt

Good for them?


26 posted on 04/16/2025 5:26:10 AM PDT by central_va (I won't be reconstructed and I do not give a damn...)
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To: dennisw

“The group thought they might be used to help DOGE automate the Pentagon’s operations via AI”

That means they were incredibly stupid.

In a corporate takeover (which is a decent analogy to the current situation) firing existing staff in critical positions is job one.


27 posted on 04/16/2025 5:30:51 AM PDT by cgbg (It was not us. It was them--all along.)
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To: Jonty30

“They can be replaced by a troops of 12 year old hackers.”

Elon can lend them four coders. What took 10 years of DDS services can be accomplished in six months by Elon’s army.


28 posted on 04/16/2025 5:42:13 AM PDT by EQAndyBuzz (Democrats are not part of the solution. They are part of the problem.)
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To: Libloather

Silicon Valley solutions.

Probably wanted Silicon Valley employee perks, like quiet rooms, massage rooms, personal batistas, etc.


29 posted on 04/16/2025 5:50:15 AM PDT by shotgun
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To: lodi90
That was my thought, they all live far away, maybe some even in surrounding states, so they mass quit because they didn't want or couldn't afford the commute. Or maybe the truth is they didn't want to have to actually work for their salary.

Can you hear me playing the world's smallest violin for them?

30 posted on 04/16/2025 5:54:42 AM PDT by Mastador1
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To: central_va

The whole idea is to cut government expenses. It is always good when you can do that and not negatively impact families.

This way everyone is happy.

Clearly, these folks were NOT getting it done. It’s time for them to move on.

In a vast majority of cases this is a positive for all parties involved.


31 posted on 04/16/2025 6:11:08 AM PDT by Vermont Lt
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To: Vermont Lt
When I got laid off in 1996 and lost my IT job to an H-1B visa import who felt sorry for me? Screw these grifters.
32 posted on 04/16/2025 6:13:37 AM PDT by central_va (I won't be reconstructed and I do not give a damn...)
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To: Libloather
"the Administration was not leveraging DDS and hiring freezes, rescinding remote work, and travel restrictions were making us non-mission capable"
33 posted on 04/16/2025 6:31:24 AM PDT by Texas Fossil (Texas is not about where you were born, but a Free State of Heart, Mind and Attitude.)
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To: central_va

Cry me a river. If you were that deep into IT in 1996, you would have had no trouble getting another job either. I would guess you already knew how to code...before it was fashionable.

We have all gone through that kind of upheaval.

You can feel whatever you want. Getting folks off the books is what matters.


34 posted on 04/16/2025 6:43:48 AM PDT by Vermont Lt
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To: Libloather

Pentagon’s decade-old technology development office, is leaving by the start of May.

They just found out they can’t get any more parts from Radio Shack any more.


35 posted on 04/16/2025 7:08:01 AM PDT by Vaduz
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To: Libloather

It sounds like this “group” mainly sat around and sometimes went to conferences with other similar parasites. I have determined what they “did”. They mainly collected paychecks, produced nothing of any value to anyone and sucked up those taxpayer funded paychecks. Unfortunately, that has been your typical government employee.


36 posted on 04/16/2025 7:08:14 AM PDT by hal ogen (First Amendment or Reeducation Camp?)
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To: cgbg

“staff of the Defense Digital Service (DDS), the Pentagon’s decade-old technology development office”

They were working remotely and had not been doing much useful work. Their time was up. I would love to know how remotely. I’ll bet some were hiding out hundreds of miles away, while getting paid generously. If the Dems had beat Trump they would still be getting paid well for not doing much of anything.

50% of Federal workers fit this description. They are “made men” in the DC Mafia. Taxation is their extortion racket.


37 posted on 04/16/2025 7:09:32 AM PDT by dennisw (💯🇺🇸 Truth is Hate to those who Hate the Truth. 🇺🇸💯)
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To: MoraBlack
Jennifer is a graduate of The George Washington University with an MA in International Affairs and Pepperdine University with a BA in Political Science

Says it all, right there.

38 posted on 04/16/2025 8:05:45 AM PDT by ripnbang ("An armed man is a citizen, an unarmed man, a subject.")
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To: Libloather

Created in 2015, the Defense Digital Service was meant to help the Pentagon quickly solve technology challenges. The small team of engineers and data experts who made up the office were meant to bring Silicon Valley-style solutions to the Defense Department, a mammoth federal agency that historically struggles with quick innovation.


Seems as though they may have failed in that mission.


39 posted on 04/16/2025 9:44:21 AM PDT by VTenigma (Conspiracy theory is the new "spoiler alert")
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To: Libloather
“Although DDS was excited to support DoD’s efforts to improve efficiencies and champion software modernization initiatives, the Administration was not leveraging DDS and hiring freezes, rescinding remote work, and travel restrictions were making us non-mission capable,” the current office member told The Hill.

If their ability to communicate in English is comparable to their IT skillz, it's just as well they are leaving.

40 posted on 04/16/2025 10:33:17 AM PDT by Albion Wilde (“Did you ever meet a woke person that’s happy? There’s no such thing.” —Donald J. Trump)
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