INTEGRATING S&T
MAINTAINING THE PLAN After completing and baselining the plan, adequate monitoring is vital to avoid its becoming
“shelf ware.” Te monitor-
ing process should also mirror the IPT model, with the IPT lead running regu- larly scheduled formal discussions (e.g., quarterly, semiannually, etc.) to ensure that the entire team remains aligned, manages risk, communicates status and updates the plan as needed. When assumptions become reality, the plan is updated. When near-term planned activities come to fruition, out-years are added, so it is a rolling 30-year plan. It is important that all stakeholders align in the same direction, understand the cur- rent version of the goal (the big picture and their pieces of it) and leverage one another’s efforts to achieve that goal.
Maintenance of the plan also includes regular interaction with senior leadership to communicate its contents and sta- tus, as well as to obtain feedback on any required adjustments based on changing priorities or updated strategy. Since its overall purpose is to inform leadership decisions, the plan must become a stan- dard “front and center” fixture in the decision-making process. For the plan to be useful, senior leaders must routinely consider the information it provides.
CONCLUSION
“Te Army has been around a long time and we’ve never had a 30-year plan, so why do we need one now?” is a common question.
One could also ask why, although the Army continues to field some of the best equipment in the world, programs still encounter roadblocks or dead ends. How many of those fielded items could have been fielded sooner and at a lower life-cycle cost? How many overlapping capabilities exist? How many technologies
Lonnie Blevins, a sales manager for Ultralife Corp., adjusts the tactical communications device on his display during a technology expo Jan. 31 at Fort Hood, TX. The expo showcased the latest technology in the areas of test and command, test and measurements, hardware, software, data solutions, and tactical and medical equipment. Linking S&T projects to PORs and modernization of existing equipment is the underlying purpose of the 30-year strategic planning approach champi- oned by Shyu. (Photo by SSG Andrea Merritt, 7th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment)
did not get fielded even though they achieved technical
success? Why are
there so many items in our demilitariza- tion account? Now more than ever, the answers to these questions have strategic relevance, but they remain elusive with- out an integrated long-term plan from which to acquire this knowledge.
No doubt we can collectively work more efficiently while remaining effective. Te integrated long-term plan—and ongoing maintenance of the plan—are essential for that to happen. Te 30-year plan provides a mechanism to ensure that our efforts are complementary and neither duplicated nor wasted, by showing how they fit into the long-term strategy while highlighting second- and third-order effects. An effective, inte- grated and well-developed plan provides more and better information to feed fact-based leadership decisions.
Although long-term plans like this 30-year strategic plan are far from per- fect, they provide the required baseline from which to operate and support informed decisions. In the current cli- mate of fiscal uncertainties, long-term planning will help provide more “bang for the buck” by guiding informed
investment decisions and identifying the second- and third-order effects. Te key to effective and efficient fielding of equipment to the warfighter is active leadership in developing, monitoring and maintaining the collective plan.
With budgets declining and showing no sign of rebounding, we owe our ultimate customers—the warfighter and the tax- payer—the best we can deliver in the most efficient manner possible.
Tis article was previously published in the January-February 2014 issue of Defense AT&L Magazine at
http://www.dau.mil/ pubscats/Pages/
DefenseAtl.aspx.
MR. VINCE MATRISCIANO is research and development program coordinator for PEO Ammunition, Picatinny Arsenal, NJ. He holds a B.S. in mechanical engineer- ing from Worcester Polytechnic Institute. He also received his Project Manage- ment
Professional certification the Project Management development from Institute. He
is Level III certified in systems planning, research,
and engineering
and in acquisition program management. He is a member of the U.S. Army Acquisition Corps.
ASC.ARMY.MIL 175
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