Phase 0 Activities
Abstract
Pre-Phase A Activities include assessments, surveys, and planning activities in support of the requirements generation system to mature, limit, clarify, and define requirements before competition for resources in the POM process and transition to acquisition management. This effort will complement the currently funded Marine Corps Systems Command (MCSC) Phase A Activities line to pursue a limited range of items on a priority basis, examining critical issues and alternatives. Examples of activities include but are not limited to (1) development of Operational Mode Summaries, Mission Profiles, Concepts of Employment and Acquisition Objectives, (2) mapping between legacy systems and replacements, (3) examining integration and family of systems architectural issues, (4) performing Doctrine, Organization, Training, Equipment, Support, Facilities (DOTESF) assessments and providing other key support for the Universal Needs Statement (UNS) process, (5) base-lining POM initiatives, (6) planning requirements support of evolutionary acquisition, (7) facilitating user/advocate interaction to better understand what is needed and how it will be used, and (8) supporting the Marine Requirements Oversight Council (MROC)-directed tailoring Authorized Acquisition Objective process. Marine Corps Combat Development Command (MCCDC) averages approximately 62 Urgent Needs Statements (UNS) requests per year addressing new requirements, of which approximately 20% require expedited processing. Quick reaction assessment and planning is likely to support requirements emerging from current real world operations. Clear Facilities, a Command Element (CE) Army Research Laboratory (ARL) item (supported by the Marine Corps Ground Combat Element (GCE)) requiring a continuum of materiel solutions (family of systems) to enable lethal clearing of a broad range of man-made structures in multiple environments/tactical situations typifies a requirement needing pre-Phase A support. Supporting activities have centered on decomposition of the mission into 460 specific tasks accompanied by development of an operational concept, objectives and key performance parameters, and warfighter prioritization. The end product will be a requirements road map. The end state will be a process and product to guide both POM and acquisition activities. These activities do not overlap or conflict with Mission Area Analysis and Analysis of Alternatives funded within the MCCDC Studies and Analysis (S&A) program, MCSC Phase A Activities, Marine Corps Warfighting Lab (MCWL) experimentation or Science and Technology (S&T) activities. Pre-phase A Activities allow high priority requirements to move ahead in advance of funding decisions for specific programs, provide a better capability to react to emerging requirements and improve the quality of initiatives brought to the Program Objective Memoramdum (POM) process. Through front-end assessment, relatively modest funding can be leveraged into significant cost and schedule savings, bringing needed capabilities to the operating forces sooner and cheaper. Each POM cycle provides examples of initiatives that are unfunded or delayed by an immature requirement or understanding of alternatives. In other cases the initiative is funded but the acquisition cycle stretches out until the requirement is better understood. Pre Phase A facilitates a timely and more efficient process. Phase A (previously known as Phase 0) Activities consist of a series of interrelated activities of the acquisition process designed to investigate potential material solutions to validate needs, estimate program costs, support sound business decisions, correct inherent disconnects between the Programming, Planning, Budgeting and Execution (PPBE) cycle, the Combat Development and Acquisition Management Systems, and prevent undue delays in pursuing priority requirements. The process supports Commanding General (CG), MCCDC and Commander, Marine Corps Systems Command (COMMARCORSYSCOM) by providing funding to priority programs, thus allowing for the examination of concepts and alternatives to support an orderly transition from requirements to initiatives and initiatives to funded programs. This will permit the POM process to focus on activities of evaluating, prioritizing and integrating rather than defining and resolving raw, immature requirements. Phase A activities "jump start" high priority programs of the acquisition process. Furthermore, since 70% of a program's life cycle cost is determined during Phase A, this initiative will put resources to work where the return on investment is the greatest. Typical studies conducted on Phase A activities include, but are not limited to Market Surveys, Business Case Analysis (BCA), Cost as an Independent Variable (CAIV) analysis, Life Cycle Cost Estimates, Cost Comparison Analysis, Acquisition Strategies, Trade-off Analysis in lieu of an Analysis of Alternatives. To satisfy the emerging requirements, the Deputy Commandant for Combat Development is leading the Marine Expeditionary Force Future Vehicle (MEFFV) effort to conduct Joint Capability Integration and Development System analysis to establish a capabilities framework specifically tailored to assess technologies for transition to the Marine Air Ground Task Force (MAGTF). MEFFV efforts are directed at capability refinement and integration, analysis of multiple concepts, determining technology objectives, and continued development of Initial Capabilities Documents (ICDs) and Capabilities Development Documents supporting ''spin-out'' technology transitions. This budget item supports combat development activities supporting the three Marine Requirements Oversight Council (MROC) priorities in compliance with JROC and USD AT&L guidance to participate in a Joint Program with the Army's Future Combat Systems Program.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Project
- Publication Date
- Oct 01, 2012
- Source ID
- 2930_0605873M_6_1319_PB_2012
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- Child Accomplishment: *Phase A Activities