Save the DoD money; win a cash prize Published Aug. 24, 2010 By Monica Mendoza 21st Space Wing staff writer PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. -- If you are economical, a penny-pincher or just plain frugal, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates would like to hear your ideas on how you would save the Department of Defense big bucks. And, he's willing to pay cash for the best ideas. Secretary Gates announced this month that he's looking for ideas to save money, ways to avoid costs, ways to reduce cycle time and ways to increase the agility of the Defense Department. He wants to hear directly from servicemembers and Department of Defense employees, he said. He is calling the contest "INVEST," and it runs now to Sept. 24. Secretary Gates and his team will choose 25 winners and announce them in October. Cash prizes from $500 to $1,000 will be awarded to the best ideas. The goal of the INVEST contest is to get ideas on how to save money and at the same time improve the way the Department of Defense operates. Secretary Gates said he is looking for ideas that could help him reach his goal of saving $100 billion over the next five years. This month, Secretary Gates said it is time to reform the way Department of Defense does business - it's time to end the duplicate programs and unnecessary overhead costs. He is making cuts, including freezing the number of office of the secretary of defense, defense agency and combatant command manpower positions at the fiscal 2010 levels for the next three years. The contest is a way to get ideas directly from the people working the programs and paying the bills. "Within the department, we are launching an online contest for the purpose of soliciting and rewarding creative ideas to save money and use resources more effectively," Secretary Gates said in an Aug. 9 press release. Ideas will be accepted at http://www.defense.gov/home/features/2010/0710_invest/. All of the contest ideas will be evaluated anonymously until a winner is decided. And, folks can submit more than one idea, but ideas must be submitted as an individual, not as a group. Ideas will be judged on whether the idea has merit, a method of implementation, the projected cost to implement, any required changes, the risks and whether it really could save money. "The Air Force strongly supports the Secretary's overall campaign for greater efficiency, and I encourage each of you to submit your ideas for consideration," said Erin Conaton, Under Secretary of the Air Force. "Ideas both small and large are welcome."