On Thursday, the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Personnel held a hearing to discuss needed reforms of the Department of Defense’s (DOD) civilian personnel system. Former Acting Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness Peter Levine and other former senior officials testified on hiring, training, and performance issues within the DOD civilian workforce. VFW National Security and Foreign Affairs Director Sarah Maples submitted testimony expressing VFW’s objections to DOD’s new Reduction in Force (RIF) policy, which reduces the value of veterans’ preference and failed to meet a congressional mandate to base DOD’s RIF policy on performance.