The USAF PEOlDAC/MAD Structure: Successful Pattern for Future Weapon Systems Acquisition?
Abstract
With defense acquisition costs in the 1980s exceeding $115 billion annually and comprising over 40% of the defense budget, it was only appropriate that DoD and Congress focused on various acquisition streamlining and reform initiatives. In 1986, the Packard Commission identified numerous shortcomings in the acquisition process and recommended several improvements. These recommendations became the goals of subsequent legislation, Presidential directives, and DoD regulations. The result of these actions was a major restructuring in how OSD and the services conduct acquisition activities. One significant change was the creation of the Program Executive Officer (PEO), a corporate operating official who would supervise a portfolio of mission-related Major and selected programs and be accountable to the Service Acquisition Executive (SAE). This line officer, in the direct reporting chain between the Program Manager (PM) and the SAE, would streamline and focus the activities associated with executing and overseeing these programs. In spite of the many benefits this new position offered, its imposed insertion into an existing organizational structure complicated the relative roles and responsibilities of other acquisition officials, specifically-in the Air Force (AF)-the Designated Acquisition Commanders (DACs) and the Mission Area Directors (MADs).
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Apr 01, 1997
- Accession Number
- ADA331471
Entities
People
- Charles W. Pinney
Organizations
- Dwight D. Eisenhower School for National Security and Resource Strategy