http://www.rand.org/pubs/mono- graphs/
MG761.html) shows that the acquisition process often overlooks opportunities to save on manpower until it is too late. The study states that 85 per- cent of life-cycle cost decisions are made after the design and development stage, when it is too late to refine the design to be more cost-efficient over the life cycle.
Both DoD and the Government Account- ability Office (GAO) recognize that consideration of life-cycle costs early in a system’s development can help control costs, but this often fails to get the atten- tion it deserves. Manpower is a substantial element of life-cycle costs and should be an important part of the key performance parameters for UMS. A study by GAO in 2010 (Unmanned Aircraft Systems: Com- prehensive Planning and a Results-Oriented Training Strategy Are Needed to Support Growing Inventories, online at http://
www.gao.gov/products/GAO-10-331) recognizes that DoD encourages the acquisition community to consider life- cycle costs, but both DoD and GAO have found that insufficient consideration is given to these costs.
A PATH FORWARD One could argue that reducing manpower should be a consideration in the acqui- sition of both manned and unmanned platforms. A promising tool is Human Systems Integration (HSI), a strategy of integrating human factors into engineer- ing systems to achieve important cost and performance benefits. HSI has the potential to realize significant manpower savings for new acquisitions.
DoD began directing HSI planning in defense acquisition in 2008 with Depart- ment of Defense Instruction 5000.2, Operation of the Defense Acquisition Sys- tem, online at
http://www.dtic.mil/whs/ directives/corres/pdf/500002p.pdf.
THE HUMAN SIDE OF UNMANNED SYSTEMS
MAJ Jeffrey Poquette, Assistant Product Manager, Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems within Program Executive Office Aviation, inspects a Puma held by contractor Mike Reagan after a landing in which the unmanned aircraft apparently crashed and broke. The Puma was designed to withstand sudden drops, with parts that are easily put back together. (U.S. Army photo by Kari Hawkins, Redstone Arsenal, AL.)
Andrew P. Sage and William B. Rouse cite an encouraging example in their 2009 book, Handbook of Systems Engineering and Management, Second Edition, in the Navy’s use of HSI during the acquisi- tion of the Zumwalt class of destroyers (DDG-1000): Forecasted savings were estimated at $18 billion because of a reduction of manpower from 350 per- sonnel per ship to 95.
UMS have done well to bring enhanced capabilities and to reduce risk as demanded by commanders, but so far they have not enabled a reduction in manpower. Yet the conditions neces- sary to bring about manpower reduction through UMS—increased autonomy and improved acquisition processes—are reachable, albeit with difficulty. Meeting these conditions could very well revolu- tionize warfare as we know it.
The 2011 National Military Strategy of the United States of America (Redefin- ing America’s Military Leadership, online at
Browser.aspx?id=427042) foreshadows a great change for our Armed Forces:
“The complexity of this global system and the challenges therein demand that we— the Joint Force—think anew about how we lead.”
What this means for the future of man- power and technology remains to be seen. One thing is certain: UMS are here to stay. Whether or not they replace humans in combat remains to be seen. Neverthe- less, regardless of our success in advancing unmanned technology, war always has been and always will be a conflict among humans. Until the “rise of the machines” takes over the world, no war will ever be wholly unmanned.
https://acc.dau.mil/Community-
MAJ VALERIE L. HODGSON is the Encroachment Management Program Man- ager for the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, Twentynine Palms, CA. She previously served as the Officer in Charge of the Joint Robotics Repair Detach- ment in Afghanistan from October 2009 to July 2011. She holds a B.S. in nutrition sci- ence from the University of California.
ASC.ARMY.MIL 39
ACQUISITION
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