AF panel likens DOD acquisition to contact sport

  • Published
  • By Derek Kaufman
  • 88th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
DAYTON, Ohio (AFNS) --  The Defense Department's journey to recapture acquisition excellence took a big step forward during two days of discussions and workforce training held at Sinclair Community College here April 20 and 21.

That was the assessment made by several senior leaders at the DOD Acquisition Insight Conference, at which more than 700 military, civilian and contractor acquisition professionals and defense industry partners met.

Sponsored by Defense Acquisition University - Midwest Region, the conference focused principally on providing acquisition experts from nearby Wright-Patterson Air Force Base with a forum to exchange ideas and discuss how to best implement the Weapon Systems Acquisition Reform Act of 2009.

"In my mind, it's about continuous process improvement," said Lt. Gen. Tom Owen, commander of the Aeronautical Systems Center and the Air Force's program executive officer, or PEO, responsible for buying and modernizing aircraft systems. "We know that what we do is vitally important, so we should work hard to improve our processes."

General Owen's boss, Gen. Donald Hoffman, commander of Air Force Materiel Command, said it's important for weapon system program managers to think carefully about program scope. They need to be willing to say no when nice-to-have, emerging weapon systems requirements are proposed late in the game because these ideas lead to cost overruns and delivery delays.

General Hoffman used the word "pugnacity" to describe the attitude he wants to see in program managers. They must be hard-nosed enough to ensure well-intentioned but disruptive ideas don't derail the process. Program managers must defend the boundaries of their program and aggressively execute the agreed plan with their industrial partners or schedule delays and cost increases will creep in.

Virtually everyone acknowledged that years of downsizing and outsourcing left the acquisition workforce out of balance and ill-equipped to deal with a concurrent significant increase in oversight, documentation requirements and dollar value of contracts written.

The government must stop the trend of hollowing out DOD's in-house technical capability and then attempting to compensate by adding burdensome oversight, said Dr. Ashton Carter, undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics.

The DOD acquisition workforce improvement plan, currently in execution, includes a number of concurrent efforts to increase the size of the department's in-house acquisition workforce through recruitment of people into newly created positions and "in-sourcing" or conversion of contractors to government positions. General Hoffman said for his command, AFMC officials plan to in-source about 4,000 positions.

Enhancing skills of acquisition, technology and logistics workers through education and training and establishing a clear path for their professional development also are key components of the improvement plan. Rebuilding skills in the workforce which have atrophied, like those of budget estimators and system engineers, will take time, but the effort is necessary and worthwhile, senior panel experts said.

"It takes about 10 years to (develop) a good fighter pilot," said retired Gen. Lawrence Skantze, former commander of Air Force Systems Command, adding the same is true for a good acquisition professional.

Additionally, a soon-to-be announced major restructure of major AFMC acquisition centers was previewed. In part, it will increase the number of program executive officers to enable better senior officer-level focus on high-dollar, high-risk programs that warrant additional scrutiny.

General Owen, who currently serves as the PEO for aircraft systems, said that will mean five new PEOs at Aeronautical Systems Center, for a total of six. He will remain PEO for B-2 Spirit, C-17 Globemaster III and F-22 Raptor but will be joined by PEOs for Agile Combat Support; Fighters and Bombers; Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance; KC-X; and Mobility.

Sue Payton, former assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition, said across AFMC, the number of PEOs will go from five to 15.

Ms. Payton, General Hoffman and others extolled the value of solid systems engineering, as well as incentive-based contracting with industry to move to firm fixed-price contracts as early as feasible. Funding fewer programs at high confidence levels to enable low-risk development and production to proceed quickly at efficient economies of scale was universally preferred to stretching out weapons buys in tiny lots over many years. Competitive prototyping up front to reduce risk later was another lauded approach.

"The only leverage you have in Air Force acquisition is to say 'no,'" Ms. Payton said, noting that programs with prioritized, stable requirements and realistically funded for block upgrades are preferred to attempts to go from zero to hero in fielding the perfect weapon system straight out of the starting block.

"This is a contact sport," said Lt. Gen. Ted Bowlds, commander of the Electronic Systems Center at Hanscom AFB, Mass.  It requires active leadership and personal contact, early and often, between acquirers, testers, sustainers and industry producers, he added.

Transparent, open communication between these communities and sharing detailed analyses using various information technology tools enhances trust and credibility, General Owen said.

Gary Bliss, the director of the Pentagon's Performance Assessment and Root Cause Analysis office, agreed, noting the one unifying theme he's learned in his reviews of acquisition programs that encountered serious problems was a need for "greater transparency of programs throughout the acquisition chain of command."

Mr. Bliss also said there is no substitute for knowledge of the complex series of rules and policies that drive acquisition decisions.

"Everyone in this room must understand (the Weapons System Acquisition Reform Act of 2009)," he said to the conferees in attendance.

Despite its difficulties, when really tested, the acquisition community can perform with incredible agility, General Owen noted.

"Some of our most successful programs (came about from being) challenged with doing something really quickly," he said. The MC-12 Liberty is a notable ASC example, with an entire squadron of ISR aircraft being fielded in less than 10 months from concept to combat.