ADVANCING ACQUISITION
contributor to military thought as well as the Army’s experts in providing material solutions.
To that end, I will be providing a series of papers that outline my thoughts and guidance as the assistant secretary of the Army for acquisition, logistics and technology (ASA(ALT)). I believe senior leaders must provide a clear picture of their vision. We are very fortunate to have like-minded leadership in the secre- tary, undersecretary, chief of staff and vice chief of staff. All agree that we must work together to quickly advance our overmatch capabilities.
Let me, then, provide foundational concepts for achieving such an operationally oriented approach to acquisition and the culture into which we must transform.
1. Acquisition reform. Our secretary, Dr. Mark T. Esper, has outlined several
initiatives to promote unity of effort,
focused effort and measurable progress. Unity of effort drives
the establishment of a single command structure
that, in turn, drives modernization from concept to full DOTMLPF-P [doctrine, organization, training, mate- riel, leadership, personnel, facilities and policy] delivery to the warfighter in a timely enough manner to make a differ- ence. Tis is the objective of the Army Futures Command.
Te secretary and the chief of staff have made it clear that, for the remainder of their tenure, the top six priorities—long- range precision fires, next-generation combat vehicle, future vertical lift, the Army network, air and missile defense and Soldier lethality—will not change and shall be the focus of the Army’s modernization strategy. Cross-functional teams are the primary mechanism to ensure consistency of progress
against known areas requiring development. Measurable progress on the acquisition component of these priorities has already begun as the ASA(ALT) implements an evolvable tracking system. My direction is to avoid any new require- ment for data input and, instead, to leverage what exists and to consolidate the data in a manner that will provide insights necessary at the senior level. My objective is to enable our workforce to achieve, not to second-guess it.
2. Accelerated fielding. It is clear that we need a more respon- sive acquisition system to meet the needs of our Soldiers on time. Let me share with you my experience in this area. Following the tragedies of Sept. 11, 2001, the Army found itself fighting terrorists who effectively employed improvised devices and commercial technologies against our forces in Afghanistan. Te formal acquisition process, still in place today and taking an average of 12 years to field a system, could not respond expediently.
In May 2002, I was “afforded” the opportunity to take robots into combat by forming a small team that integrated Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency robots with government and commercial off-the-shelf items. In only 28 days, we took them into the caves of Afghanistan rather than sending Sol- diers with grappling hooks and grenades. Robots are now broadly used in combat operations. Perhaps more importantly, this instigated the Army and DOD’s rapid acquisition model. Tere have been many years in which “rapid” acquisition was seen as an exception to “real” acquisition. We cannot afford “real” acquisition if it is going to take 12 years or even six years.
Our adversaries have revised their Cold War processes to lever- age the ever-increasing availability of technology. We must do
THINKING BIGGER THAN THE BIG FIVE
An AH-64 Apache helicopter with the12th Combat Aviation Brigade and M1 Abrams tanks from the 1st Infantry Division secure an area during an exercise in March at Grafen- woehr Training Area, Germany. The Army’s modernization strategy seeks to accelerate development of technological and operational capabilities that will improve on its “Big Five” weapon systems, which have received only incremental upgrades over time. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Hubert D. Delany III, 22nd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment)
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Army AL&T Magazine
April-June 2018
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