The Department of Defense has not shut down its insourcing initiative, according to comments by DoD officials reported on GovernentExecutive.com.  According to an article by Robert Brodsky on the website, the military services will be exempt from a freeze on positions announced recently by Secretary Gates as part of his savings initiatives (see Highlights, August 10, 2010).  DoD officials said the services are continuing to move ahead with insourcing plans.  A senior DoD personnel and readiness analyst is reported to have said “Insourcing was not canceled as a result of Secretary Gates’ efficiency directives” and that the services will continue to use insourcing as a workforce-shaping tool.  DoD officials also indicated that this may not be the case for defense agencies, citing their need to identify “compelling circumstances” to continue to insource.  However, DoD apparently will not back off from Gate’s proposals regarding insourcing.  Officials emphasized that decisions to insource will not automatically mean increased federal positions.  Nevertheless, it should be noted that since the Secretary’s savings announcements, few official DoD statements have been made about the fate of insourcing.  This has added to the confusion over the program in both DoD and industry.