Acquisition general speaks on priorities, Should Schedule

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Hailey Haux
  • Secretary of the Air Force Public Affairs Command Information
WASHINGTON (AFNS) --  The Air Force Association hosted its monthly Air Force breakfast with keynote speaker Lt. Gen. Arnie Bunch, military deputy assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition, in Arlington, Virginia, Sept. 24.

AFA’s AF Breakfast Program is a monthly series that offers a setting for senior Air Force and Department of Defense leaders to communicate with the public.

Bunch touched on a number of acquisitions topics including KC-46A Pegasus and possible impacts of a long-term congressional continuing resolution; programs like Should Schedule, Should Cost, and Cognitive Computing; and science and technology.

The Air Force has not yet asked Congress for any relief from the continuing resolution because leadership is still hoping for a short-term measure, Bunch said. However, the KC-46 will likely be a top priority if the Air Force has to face down a yearlong continuing resolution.

In exploring its new Should Schedule approach to speeding up the time it takes to acquire new systems, the Air Force will make potential test cases of three programs which are: the Bomber Armament Tester, Global Positioning System/Inertial Navigation System (GPS/INS) modernization and the Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System.

“Our real drive here is to shrink the amount of time to get something out in the field,” Bunch said. “There are a lot of different components that play into this. It is an experiment right now. We’re going to start trying to come up with a contract structure that will incentivize people to be able to get (requirements) to the field quicker but we’re doing it in the context that we’re also trying to ensure we keep competition along the way. It’s a balancing act of those things … we’re doing really well (with it).”

Should Cost goes back into the secretary’s Make Every Dollar Count Campaign , and over the past two years, acquisitions has saved billions of dollars which can then be put back into other acquisition priorities, mentioned Bunch.

The Air Force’s Make Every Dollar Count Campaign efforts directly support Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Frank Kendall's Better Buying Power 3.0.

BBP 3.0 introduced several areas designed to help the Pentagon maintain superiority over future adversaries and enhance the cybersecurity of the components that go into major weapons systems.

“It is critical to our national security and our ability to provide technologically advanced warfighting systems to the field to keep our advantage and continue to do our mission,” Bunch said.

Bunch also touched on the Air Force Acquisition’s five priorities: 1) get the high priority programs right and keep them on track 2) improve relationships and transparency with stakeholders 3) own the technical base-line 4) build on better buying power and 5) build a long-term strategy and focus on strategic agility

Bunch also chairs the Air Forces Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Advisory Council to train and retain a highly qualified, STEM-educated workforce.

“There are a lot of great partnerships and programs,” Bunch said. “Those are the kind of things that are important for what we are trying to do for our future, to bring in young men and women. We need young men and women from a diverse background to be cognizant and willing to get into these areas and work in industry and in the Air Force.”