AFTER THE DIVORCE: How the Pentagon Can Position Itself for Speed, Agility, and Innovation in the New Era of Acquisitions

Abstract

In 2016, Congress directed the breakup of the Pentagons Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics enterprise, believing that it was too large a bureaucracy to be effective and monopolized too many acquisition decisions. The first major step divided the bulk of the Office of the Secretary of Defenses (OSD) acquisition headquarters staff into two new organizations: Research and Engineering (R and E) and Acquisition and Sustainment (A and S). The second step delegated Milestone Decision Authority (MDA) for major programs to the Service Acquisition Executives (SAEs). Additionally, over the last four years, Congress authorized a series of rapid acquisition pathways and authorities to enable greater speed and flexibility. In 2017, the three Services selected new SAEs, all from rapid acquisition organizations. These reforms represent a once-in-a-generation turning point, ushering in anew era for Defense acquisitions.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Mar 01, 2019
Accession Number
AD1107958

Entities

People

  • Pete Modigliani

Organizations

  • MITRE Corporation

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Cyber
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Human Systems
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Acquisition
  • Budgets
  • Business Administration
  • Communities
  • Complex Systems
  • Congress
  • Cost Estimates
  • Costs
  • Defense Industry
  • Department Of Defense
  • Directed Energy Weapons
  • Engineering
  • Executives
  • Governments
  • Investments
  • Knowledge Management
  • Management Personnel
  • Military Acquisition
  • National Security
  • Prototypes
  • Security
  • Weapon Systems

Readers

  • Enterprise Information Systems Architecture and Joint Command Capability Interoperability Support.
  • Government and Public Administration Law.
  • Military History of the United States in the 20th Century.