Protecting the Future
Abstract
If you ve heard me speak recently or read about any of my recent congressional testimony, you may be aware that I m fairly vocal about my concerns regarding our ability to sustain the unchallenged technological superiority our military has enjoyed for several decades. This isn t a new concern but, given the budget cuts we face and the difficult trade-offs among competing needs for force structure, readiness and investment, I decided it was time to be much more public and vocal about our current and future risks. The Secretary and the acting Deputy Secretary have been extremely supportive and are expressing the same concerns. One of my priorities as USD(AT&L) is Protect the Future. In October 2011, I added this item to the list of priorities I had articulated as Principal Deputy Under Secretary in 2010. Protect the Future spans several areas. It includes keeping alive the capabilities we developed to support the two prolonged counter-insurgency campaigns we have waged in Iraq and Afghanistan we may need them again. On this list are items like contingency contracting, counters to improvised explosive devices, and rapid acquisition in general. Protecting the future includes the protection of our science and technology accounts. It would also include protecting the gains we have made in staffing and training the acquisition workforce using the Defense Acquisition Workforce Fund. Most of all, however, I am concerned about protecting the adequacy of our research and development (R&D) investments in capabilities and systems that will allow us to dominate on future battlefields and keep engineering design teams who develop advanced defense systems.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 01, 2014
- Accession Number
- ADA608648
Entities
People
- Frank Kendall
Organizations
- Defense Acquisition University