ARMY AL&T C O N F E R E N C E C A L L


To counter the growing threat of improvised explosive devices, DOD and the Army employed multiple contractors simultaneously to rapidly produce and deploy thousands of MRAP vehicles within a short, 2-year time span. (U.S. Army photo by SGT Mark B. Matthews.)


Army Acquisition Evolves During Overseas Contingency Operations Kris Osborn


he U.S. Army acquisition community can best serve Soldiers at war by seeking at times to properly blend traditional acquisition practices with rapid and so-called hybrid approaches, said MG R. Mark Brown, Deputy for Acquisition and Systems Management in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics, and Technology (ASAALT).


T


“We have to remain flexible. We have to be responsive to the warfighter’s theater needs,” Brown said, speaking to an audience of military and industry Jan. 14, 2011, at the Association of the United States Army (AUSA) Institute of Land Warfare’s Aviation Symposium and Exhibition, National Harbor, MD.


Flexibility includes innovation to adjust to enemy techniques and tactics.


52 APRIL –JUNE 2011


The current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan have required the Army to adapt its acquisition practices to be more efficient and more nimble in cer- tain critical situations. The Army can accelerate, adjust, and, in some cases, bypass traditional acquisition processes in order to meet urgent operational needs. For example, DOD and the Army moved to rapidly produce and deploy thousands of Mine Resistant


Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles needed to counter the growing threat of improvised explosive devices.


This critical flexibility requires weighing traditional, DOD 5000 series acquisition procedures against more rapid approaches that promise speedier delivery of needed wartime gear and technologies. The Army has learned to perform this delicate balancing act and


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