THINKING BEYOND SYSTEMS If the government can encourage competition at the component and subsystem levels, the author argues, it can bring down prices. Here, Tim Spivey (left), the process optimization manager for Anniston (AL) Army Depot’s component repair and weapons value stream, talks to MG Michael J. Terry, commanding general, U.S. Army TACOM Life Cycle Management Command, about the depot’s M2A1 .50-caliber machine gun program. (U.S. Army photo by John Makamson)