RIDING OUT THE STORM


A


s if the challenges of declin- ing budgets and an upcoming drawdown weren’t enough to keep the Army on fiscal alert,


the effects of sequestration and stopgap funding have amplified intensely the need for better buying power (BBP).


Troughout the Army and DOD, a


“perfect storm”—also described as a tri- fecta—of operating under a continuing resolution (CR), the harsh cuts


ing from sequestration, and the decline of funding in the overseas contingency operations (OCO) and Operation and Maintenance, Army


(OMA) accounts


makes BBP initiatives all the more impor- tant, even as it tests the limits of BBP.


“Sequestration and the continuing reso- lution work against everything we are trying to accomplish,” said Frank Kendall, undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics (USD (AT&L)), in response to questions from Army AL&T Magazine. (See Q&A on Page 20.) “Unpredictable, unstable funding directly impairs the department’s ability to maximize its buying power.


“Nevertheless, BBP is about creating efficiencies, in large part


through an


emphasis on implementing basic acquisi- tion practices and policies in a smart and professional manner. Its implementation makes sense in any fiscal environment, but especially now,” he said. “We must meet our warfighters’ needs while remaining vigilant stewards of the taxpayers’ dollars. Better Buying Power directly helps us to achieve this goal, and our warfighters need our best efforts now more than ever.”


Heidi Shyu, the assistant secretary of the Army for acquisition, technology


logistics and (ASA(ALT)), sounded a


similar note during a Feb. 20 panel dis- cussion, titled “Better Buying Power and


12 Army AL&T Magazine


Subsequently, on March 22, Congress averted a government shutdown by


result-


INCENTIVIZING INDUSTRY To be successful, Army leadership emphasized that BBP must proceed as a team approach with private industry to make certain that the Soldiers get what they need when they need it. Here, John Hammond, a field support representative and software engineer with General Dynamics Corp., checks on a Simple Network Management Protocol at Fort Bliss, TX, Sept. 19, 2012, in prepara- tion for Network Integration Evaluation 13.1. (Photo by SGT Richard Gilbert, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division)


Affordability,” at the Association of the United States Army’s (AUSA’s) Institute of Land Warfare Winter Symposium and Exposition in Fort Lauderdale, FL. Shyu, who chaired the discussion remotely because she was working on BBP policy, called sequestration “the very antithesis of management and planning investment that we have stressed in the last couple of years.”


Te significant changes imposed by the existing fiscal


situation, the fiscal tur-


moil of sequestration, which took effect March 1, and stopgap funding under the CR together “threaten to undermine our current effort to implement cost-effective strategies in acquisition programs,” she said. Congress mandated that military programs be cut by 9 percent on average, with an exception for military pay.


passing a CR that provides spending for the rest of FY13, which ends Sept. 30. Te measure relieves the uncertainty caused by having to operate at stopgap funding levels similar to last year’s and allows the Army to address the shortfall in the OMA account. Te new CR does not, however, cancel the automatic cuts that took effect March 1 with sequestration; it just gives DOD more money to work with.


Te BBP initiatives promise to help in this regard. Experience to date with the BBP initiatives championed by Kendall and his predecessor, Dr. Ashton Carter, shows that “dedicated emphasis on affordability and sound management results in tan- gible progress,” Shyu said. (See related article on Page 4.) “But we have much work that remains. … Te reality is that the Army’s acquisition community must continue to prioritize several key missions regardless of the current and projected fiscal outlook.”


April–June 2013


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