Defense Acquisition Initiatives Review: An Assessment of Extant Initiatives

Abstract : This report documents Phase I of a project undertaken by the Institute for Defense Analyses (IDA), in cooperation with The CNA Corporation (CNAC) (the Team). The task was twofold: (1) to review and assess the current status of the many acquisition initiatives that have been recommended and/or attempted in recent years, and (2) to identify and analyze a subset of initiatives that the team finds to have potential for near term management emphasis that could provide visible improvements to the much criticized Defense acquisition system. The first major section identifies those initiatives that are proceeding satisfactorily without high-level attention at this time, or have been overtaken by events or otherwise proven unworthy of further high level attention. Forty-one such initiatives were identified and categorized. They range from initiatives that have been quite successful to those that have proven to be unexpectedly difficult, but worth continuing In the former category are such initiatives as the system for tracking the past performance of contractors, the new system for tracking military customer wait time, and the increase in progress payments to contractors from 75% to 80%. In the unexpectedly difficult category are such initiatives as streamlining the export control process and attracting more nontraditional companies to bid on DoD work. The team's overall judgment is that none of the 41 items listed in Section II rise to the level of importance in terms of either policy implications or potential payoff to warrant specific near-term attention by the Defense Acquisition Executive (DAE). This observation is more important than any detailed assessment of the individual past initiatives.