The United States Army's Balance of Capabilities to Meet the Warfighters' Needs
Abstract
The warfighter needs capabilities to fill gaps that could jeopardize mission success or lead to serious injury or death. These gaps result from evolving threats often discovered during contingency operations. The Army places the highest priority on keeping the warfighter safe and providing the warfighter with the equipment needed to win. The Army has fielded numerous systems in order to meet the Urgent Operational Needs (UONs) of warfighters since 9/11. The UONs have put a strain on the portfolio of systems managed by the Army by competing for limited resources. The competition between UONs and the portfolio of systems requires that the Army balance the portfolio against the needs. Is the Army properly balancing the portfolio of programs in order to deliver capability to the warfighter now and still meet the emerging need for capabilities tomorrow? The research shows that there are multiple processes to meet the warfighters UONs. With limited information and data, there is an appearance that each of the processes may place priorities on the needs differently. Established criteria is essential to place priorities equally across the different processes. Additional research and specific data collection is required to conclude that the Army is properly balancing the portfolio. The Army should undertake a scrub of the processes to ensure that the Army is maintaining a balance of development and fielding in the context of urgent, mid-term and long-term requirements without jeopardizing the ability to sustain them. The Army should also investigate the impacts that urgent requirements are having on the long-term requirements. A level of data collection is necessary to support successful research of the topic.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 15, 2018
- Accession Number
- AD1063514
Entities
People
- Bryan Cleve
Organizations
- Defense Acquisition University