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The money-saving steps, announced Thursday by Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta, are designed to be reversible should a compromise be reached to avoid automatic reductions in federal spending set to begin in March. The Pentagon's share could be up to $500 billion in cuts over 10 years.

To prepare for "this extraordinary budget uncertainty that we're confronting, the leadership of this department has decided that it must begin to take steps in the coming weeks that would reduce the potential damage that we would face should Congress fail to act to prevent the cuts," Mr. Panetta said.

Specific steps were outlined in a memo distributed across the military and civilian departments and signed by Ashton Carter, the deputy defense secretary, and included curtailing nonessential travel, training and conferences.

The effort is designed to not degrade the war effort in Afghanistan. Services for families of military personnel also were protected, even as the military and civilian departments were ordered to continue planning for even deeper cuts.

"Sequestration is a self-inflicted wound on national security," said Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, using the technical term for automatic cuts. "It's an irresponsible way to manage our nation's defense. It cuts blindly and it cuts bluntly. It compounds risk, and it compromises readiness."