ABILENE, Kan. — Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates challenged some sacrosanct Pentagon spending practices in a speech on Saturday, directing both military and civilian officials to find cuts in their overhead and operating costs and then transfer the savings to the fighting force.

In the speech, given on the 65th anniversary of the World War II victory in Europe, Mr. Gates said the Pentagon was wasting money it will no longer get, and he focused on targets as diverse as the cost of military health care, the large number of generals and admirals and the layers of bureaucracy involved just to send a dog team to Afghanistan.

“The attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, opened a gusher of defense spending that nearly doubled the base budget over the last decade,” Mr. Gates said. “Military spending on things large and small can and should expect closer, harsher scrutiny. The gusher has been turned off, and will stay off for a good period of time.”

Mr. Gates, a carry-over cabinet member from the Bush administration, has already canceled or trimmed several dozen weapons programs, with long-term savings predicted at $330 billion. Now he is looking for complementary cuts across the Defense Department’s civilian and military bureaucracies, the overseas headquarters and their operating costs.