DREAMING OF A STRATEGY


STREAMLINING PROCESSES In addition to emphasizing outcome over simple compliance, the DOD acquisi- tion system must evolve to excise from the rule book burdensome activities with little value. One way to stream- line the process would be to consolidate acquisition dollar thresholds


incorpo-


rated in DOD regulatory guidance. Te procurement regulations have multiple thresholds, with various rules for appli- cation depending on the commodity or service, whether it is commercially avail- able or a noncommercial item; the delivery and performance


locations (within or


outside the continental United States); and whether it should be set aside for our congressionally mandated socioeconomic programs. It is possible to consolidate many of these thresholds to establish a set of rules that apply regardless of the requirement, place of performance or delivery location.


As a member of the 809 Panel and a career contract specialist, I, along with


my DOD compatriots on the panel, plan to explore ways to clarify existing policy on a number of topics, such as contract type, determination of commercial items and competition rules to ensure that they are necessary and,


and straightforward. Current guidance to contracting officers is well-intended but


can be


if so, are clear complicated and confus-


ing because of the evolutionary nature of the rulemaking process, which has a tendency to endlessly add, and rarely remove, statutory and policy guidance. Compounding this is agency-level guid- ance that supplements higher-level policy.


Te process could be significantly more effective if contracting officers and others involved had to follow a single regula- tion that was less prescriptive than the existing rule book and had limited supplementation. Clear, easy-to-follow regulations would reduce administrative burdens, improve compliance and make it easier for the various players to work toward a common goal.


In creating a vision for the future, it is likely that the government and industry must abandon our current approach, which lacks this kind of collaborative environment in contract management and oversight.


136 Army AL&T Magazine January-March 2017


It is important to note that, as a depart- ment, we focus a lot of our attention on policies related to weapon system devel- opment; however, in FY15 the Army spent nearly 62 percent of its contract obligations on services, and in FY16 over 61 percent. Given the preponderance of contracting for services, I expect the 809 Panel will focus some of its efforts on reviewing DOD acquisition regula- tions that apply to services. Although DOD’s Better Buying Power initiatives focus on strategic management of ser- vices acquisition, some Army reporting requirements related to contracting for services are extremely burdensome, such as the accounting of contractor ser- vices and requests for services contract approval. Automating these manual pro- cesses would benefit both government and industry.


WORKFORCE CHALLENGES Finally, should the 809 Panel introduce a significantly streamlined or entirely new acquisition process, commonly known as the “nuclear option,” it must ensure that DOD has a fully trained and empow- ered workforce to implement it properly. Tat is because, if codified as envisioned, streamlined processes would not require the same level of oversight as current processes. Our contracting workforce, in turn, would need to acquire a certain level of expertise sooner than required today to take advantage of the flexibility of simplification and justify the reduction in oversight. To be effective managers of a newly simplified process, acquisition professionals must be adequately trained, both formally and on the job, to think critically, and they must have the author- ity to make decisions at the lowest possible level.


In this vein, the panel has tremen- dous freedom to review and make recommendations on deleting or revis- ing department regulations. It likely will focus on revising regulations where nec- essary to make them less prescriptive and


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