In my experience, those officers may have engineering backgrounds but are not doing direct engineering work. They are usually project and program managers. You

In my experience, those officers may have engineering backgrounds but are not doing direct engineering work. They are usually project and program managers. You will find the most civilian engineers at major ranges and test facilities. Places like Edwards AFB, White Sands Missile Range, Patuxent River NAS, China Lake, etc. The DoD employs tens of thousands of engineers at these and other sites.