Army Programming Stability.

Abstract

Stability in programs constitutes one of six ways that Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney intends to improve the defense acquisition system. Posing the question, Why doesn't the Defense Department have stable programming? to a dozen military officers stationed in the Pentagon; some would blame contractors and some would blame OSD but most would blame Congress. Posing the same question to OSD, contractors, or Congress, they would answer it was because the Services do not know what they want. Asked to define a stable program, there be as many different answers as individuals or groups asked. The most common answer received to the question of what is a stable program is, I can't define it but I know it when I see it . This paper analyzes program stability. The author looks at program stability from two aspects, MICROprogram stability and MACROprogram stability. These concepts are defined and illustrated. Three measurement techniques of are introduced; horizontal, vertical, and averaging. A test analysis, using MACROprogramming measurements of stability, is conducted on the seven Army procurement appropriations and eleven individual systems.

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
May 01, 1990
Accession Number
ADA241054

Entities

People

  • David L. Iverson

Organizations

  • Air War College

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Acquisition
  • Army Procurement
  • Computer Programming
  • Congress
  • Contractors
  • Government Procurement
  • Macroprogramming
  • Measurement
  • Military Acquisition
  • Military Procurement
  • Procurement

Readers

  • Educational Psychology
  • Government Contracting/Procurement.
  • Military History of the United States in the 20th Century.