IN HARD TRUTH, NEW OPPORTUNITY


firms. But while there are fewer large players than in previous drawdowns, there has been a proliferation of small businesses working as subcontractors— providing engineering services, doing research and development, and manu- facturing specialized components.


Today’s industrial base includes a large population of highly skilled technical and knowledge workers, many of them employed


by specialized third- and


fourth-tier subcontractors. Keeping these skilled employees within


the


industrial base has the added benefit of enhancing support for the Army’s small business


partners. Te rapid decline


in our RDA budget creates significant challenges


for small companies that


must diversify quickly, but the Army has met its 25 percent small business goal for the past three years. Tis helps small businesses continue to innovate and deliver products and services to our warfighters.


It


PUTTING THE R IN RDA Dr. Grace Metcalfe, a researcher at the Adelphi Laboratory Center of the U.S. Army Research Laboratory (ARL), is part of the Sensors and Electron Devices Directorate team that developed and successfully tested new ways of generating terahertz emissions, work that has potential biomedical and security applications. The RDA budget is declining faster than the overall defense budget, with implications for the Army’s investments in emerging technologies to develop next-generation capabilities. (Photo by Doug LaFon, ARL)


billion, which is down an amazing 28 percent from the FY12 RDA budget of $33.2 billion. A Nov 28, 2013, article in Te Washington Post profiled mem- bers of the West Point Class of 2014 and gave a compelling description of the challenge. A 22-year-old cadet wisely noted that the key question is not how to do more with less, but how to deter- mine “what we’re going to do and what we’re going to do well.” In other words: What’s going to be good enough?


6 Army AL&T Magazine


Procurement budgets naturally con- tract after a war. Te end of the Cold War saw a wave of consolidation, merg- ers and acquisitions in the commercial base. Although industry consolidation reduced duplication and redundancy, it also resulted in many of today’s critical defense assets being manufactured by only a limited number of firms. As the U.S. manufacturing sector has decreased overall, defense manufacturing has taken on a greater significance for remaining


January–March 2014 is just as opportunities important to note the created by the coming


drawdown. Te Army and industry can begin a new level of dialogue around modernization, which technologies best meet national security needs and how to integrate new technologies into existing infrastructure. Although the organic and commercial industrial base sectors are often discussed as distinct communi- ties, public-private partnership at Army depots and essential facilities is a poten- tial core strategy to ensure that parts and materials are available to sustain platforms and equipment at appropriate readiness levels.


As the Army assesses and identifies capa- bilities and competencies at its depots and arsenals, the commercial base is a vital stakeholder. Te commercial base, in particular, is well-positioned to


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100  |  Page 101  |  Page 102  |  Page 103  |  Page 104  |  Page 105  |  Page 106  |  Page 107  |  Page 108  |  Page 109  |  Page 110  |  Page 111  |  Page 112  |  Page 113  |  Page 114  |  Page 115  |  Page 116  |  Page 117  |  Page 118  |  Page 119  |  Page 120  |  Page 121  |  Page 122  |  Page 123  |  Page 124  |  Page 125  |  Page 126  |  Page 127  |  Page 128  |  Page 129  |  Page 130  |  Page 131  |  Page 132  |  Page 133  |  Page 134  |  Page 135  |  Page 136  |  Page 137  |  Page 138  |  Page 139  |  Page 140  |  Page 141  |  Page 142  |  Page 143  |  Page 144  |  Page 145  |  Page 146  |  Page 147  |  Page 148  |  Page 149  |  Page 150  |  Page 151  |  Page 152  |  Page 153  |  Page 154  |  Page 155  |  Page 156  |  Page 157  |  Page 158  |  Page 159  |  Page 160  |  Page 161  |  Page 162  |  Page 163  |  Page 164  |  Page 165  |  Page 166  |  Page 167  |  Page 168  |  Page 169  |  Page 170  |  Page 171  |  Page 172  |  Page 173  |  Page 174  |  Page 175  |  Page 176  |  Page 177  |  Page 178  |  Page 179  |  Page 180