High-Tech Defense Office Takes Lead On Telecommuting

By Stephen Barr
Monday, November 20, 2006; D01
Washington Post

The Defense Information Systems Agency describes itself as providing "global net-centric solutions" for the White House, the Pentagon and the armed forces.

In other words, it's the AOL, Google and OnStar for the Defense Department -- a crucial part of the government's national security operations.

Most of the engineers, computer scientists, telecommunication experts and technology wizards who work for DISA live in Northern Virginia and work in offices scattered through Arlington and Falls Church. Many are less than thrilled with the idea that by 2011 their jobs will be moved to Fort Meade, Md., as part of Defense Department base closures and realignments.

"A lot of those people want to stay with DISA but not uproot family because of schools and because of where their spouses work," said Jack Penkoske, DISA's director of manpower, personnel and security.

To keep from losing experienced employees, DISA has embraced telecommuting -- a way of working that the government has been slower to accept than the private sector.

Of the about 2,000 DISA jobs that have been identified as suitable for telecommuting, more than 500 employees have been cleared to work from home.

"I think our numbers for telework will continue to grow, as we get more people comfortable with it," Penkoske said in an interview last week. "We've had a seven-fold increase in the last 10 months, probably a little more than that."

About 4,400 people -- military, civil service and contractors -- work for DISA in Northern Virginia, and more than half are civil service employees. DISA hopes that telecommuting will entice the civil service employees -- all have at least a secret clearance -- to stick with the agency.

Prior to the 2005 base-closing announcement, DISA employees could work from home one day per pay period, or every two weeks. Once it became clear that the agency would be relocated to Maryland, DISA's director, Air Force Lt. Gen. Charles E. Croom Jr., put together a new policy that permits employees to work from home two days a week.

Now, DISA employees who qualify to telework and are on a compressed work schedule (80 hours biweekly in less than 10 days) can be out of the office five of 10 work days.

"There are probably going to be more [telework] days being offered as we move down the line," Penkoske said.

DISA picks up half the cost of installing and subscribing to broadband Internet service. Employees are allowed to work on only nonclassified material while at home. The agency has ramped up purchases of laptop computers so that equipment shortages will not slow the telecommuting program.

Penkoske said officials will be paying special attention to network security and to productivity measures to ensure that employees keep up with their workloads.

Theresa Noll, a senior telework program analyst at the General Services Administration, said research has found that telecommuting programs help agencies retain workers and maintain or improve their productivity.

In contrast, she noted, "it's widely recognized in all managerial circles that when you lose employees or significant parts of your workforce, there is a break in productivity."

Although DISA anticipates that telecommuting will help it keep employees, Penkoske said that telework should also aid in recruiting the next generation of workers, who, by most accounts, are keen on employers that offer flexible work arrangements.

The agency hires about 100 recent college graduates as interns each year and spends $60,000 to $70,000 over three years to train them, an investment that the agency is not eager to lose, Penkoske said.

Terry Holzheimer, director of economic development for Arlington County, said officials are looking to partner with the federal or state government to set up a telework center for DISA employees in Crystal City as they near their 2011 deadline for moving to Fort Meade, where the military plans to build a 1 million-square-foot building for DISA.

"It is one thing to lose the jobs. We don't really want to lose the people," Holzheimer said. "Taking that many people off the Metro and disrupting their lives and commuting patterns is not good public policy."

Setting up a telework center in Crystal City would provide a workplace for DISA employees on those days they do not have to be at Fort Meade or for days when they have meetings at the Pentagon, he said.

Penkoske said DISA is looking into providing daily buses "from different places" in Northern Virginia to Fort Meade so that employees can have a mass transit option for getting to work. DISA also will help employees sell and buy homes if they decide to relocate to Maryland, he said.

Unknown, of course, is how many DISA employees will move, how many will try telecommuting, and how many will quit and take jobs with other government agencies and contractors.

"My sense is that many will make that decision in 2008," Penkoske said.

Stephen Barr's e-mail address isbarrs@washpost.com.