ESC uses new acquisition steps to advance critical program Published March 4, 2009 By Chuck Paone 66th Air Base Wing Public Affairs HANSCOM AIR FORCE BASE, Mass. (AFNS) -- An Electronic Systems Center team has completed one of the Air Force's first Materiel Development Decisions using the new DOD Instruction 5000.02, Operation of the Defense Acquisition System, acquisition procedures approved in December. The team, composed of people in the 653rd Electronic Systems Group and the Acquisition Excellence Office, completed the new MDD review for the Senior Leader Command, Control, and Communications System - Airborne Communications Program, referred to as SCP. The MDD review is now the formal entry point into the acquisition process and is required for all programs. The review that is required to reach the MDD formalizes the decision that a materiel solution is needed, as opposed to simply changing operational tactics or doctrine, according to Robert Powell, a member of the 653rd team that worked on this effort. The review also determines at which point a program enters the acquisition process. Acquisition milestones, in DOD parlance, mark various stages of technology or system maturity. Milestone A refers to the technology development stage; Milestone B refers to actual engineering and manufacturing development, often called EMD; and Milestone C refers to a system's readiness for production and fielding. Following the review for this program, the Milestone Decision Authority, ESC Commander Lt. Gen. Ted Bowlds, signed the Acquisition Decision Memorandum approving the system's entry into the acquisition lifecycle at Milestone B. "Under the old DOD instruction 5000.2, programs could enter at the concept decision, which is an early review point, or at Milestones A, B, or C, without the more rigorous decision process that the MDD provides," said Mr. Powell. "The MDD keeps programs from being initiated in the wrong phase, when the requirements or technology are not yet stable or mature." The MDD requires a more thorough review to determine where the program should start, based on the requirements, technology maturity and program risk. "In this way, the MDD review supports DOD's goal of having more predictable and executable programs," said Maj. Lee Powell, the program manager. SCP will upgrade the on-aircraft communications equipment on the Air Force's very important person special air mission fleet. U.S. senior leaders travel world-wide aboard the aircraft and must be able to carry out their official duties while away from their home offices. This system will provide the highly reliable and secure voice, data and video equipment needed, along with assuring common user interfaces and communications management functions across the fleet, said Major Powell. "Entering at Milestone B works for our program based on SCP's high technology maturity, so a technology development phase is not needed," Major Powell said. "The MDA's decision allows us to deliver our product to the users faster, with initial operational capability by 2011." The next step for SCP is completion of Milestone B and award of a contract for EMD planned for next December. "The SCP team did a tremendous job preparing for the review," said Barbara Meyers of the Acquisition Excellence Office. "As we were all new to the recently approved acquisition policy, extensive research was required. The team put it all together and came up with an outstanding acquisition plan for their program." Comment on this story (comments may be published on Air Force Link) View the comments/letters page