Defense Science Board Task Force on Improvements To Services Contracting
Abstract
Contracts for services are essential to all aspects of military operations. Contracted services to support Department of Defense (DoD) missions range from routine base operating support to highly skilled analysis to direct support to battlefield operations. Contracts for services supporting major DoD programs and their associated administrative, technological, and logistics services are a strategic component of the expanding expeditionary military, stability, and reconstruction operations. The reduction in the number of uniformed personnel in the 1990s, and today's demanding combat missions have resulted in the expansion of services contracting to more than $200 billion -- over 50 percent of the DoD acquisition budget. Today, almost every defense task that is not an inherently governmental function is carried out in some part through contracted services. The task force findings include many issues related to the complexity, span, and scope of services contracting -- not just in the range of dollars involved, but also in types of activities contracted for. A better understanding of these issues is needed and the right data about them needs to be tracked to conduct relevant trend and performance analyses. The report also makes useful recommendations in specific areas, such as the definition of inherently governmental functions and services contracting in support of contingency operations. The report suggests many helpful actions to address these issues in the areas of policies and procedures, leadership, and training, but no "one-size-fits-all" solutions exist.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Mar 01, 2011
- Accession Number
- ADA550491
Entities
People
- Jacques Gansler
- Paul G. Kaminski
Organizations
- Defense Science Board