C A R E E R D E V E L O PME N T U P DAT E
ARMY AL&T
Development Group and noncommissioned officer acquisition workforce members. Graduation is essential for assuming posi- tions of greater responsibility. The first FA51 IQC in Huntsville will begin in January 2011.
U.S. Army Acquisition Corps (AAC) Annual Awards Ceremony There are some acquisition workforce members whose performance and contributions to the warfighter set them apart from their peers. These extraordinary people will be recognized for their achieve- ments at the AAC Annual Awards Ceremony on Sunday, Oct. 24, 2010. I invite all AL&T Workforce members to join us in recog- nizing the significant accomplishments and achievements of these acquisition excellence contributors. For more information, contact Marti Giella at (703) 645-7653 or
usaasc.events@
conus.army.mil.
Farewell to Retiring USAASC Professionals, DAU President It is with bittersweet recognition and extreme gratitude that I say goodbye to three USAASC acquisition professionals: Wanda Meisner, Mary McHale, and Cynthia Hermes. Meisner served as the Chief, Force Structures and Manpower Division, and her accomplishments included supervising, coaching, and mentoring a team of government and contractor professionals in developing and presenting the annual Military Acquisition Position List review and the Principal Military Deputy Command Review. Since December 2006, McHale served as the Acquisition Proponency Branch Chief. Among other responsibilities, she analyzed and identified Army acquisition workforce competency, skills, size, structure, and grade distribution requirements. Hermes is retiring as the Army AL&T Magazine and Army AL&T Online Editor-in-Chief. She has worked on the magazine staff for 12 years and has contrib- uted extensively to the magazine’s continual success. Collectively, these three professionals retire after achieving more than 100 years of successful federal service! Their hard work and dedication in supporting the AL&T Workforce will be sorely missed, but their contributions will influence the way we do business for many years to come. I wish them a healthy and happy retirement.
In closing, DAU President Frank Anderson Jr. brings another retirement from the acquisition community this season. Anderson initiated and successfully led the most comprehensive reengineering of DAU defense acquisition workforce training since its establishment as the Defense Systems Management College in 1971. Under Anderson’s tenure, DAU was elevated to an internationally recognized corporate university, winning numerous awards from various civilian and military academias. Anderson’s leadership and his devotion to the DOD acquisition workforce set the standard for future acquisition career develop- ment leaders. I wish him well in all his future endeavors.
Craig A. Spisak Director, U.S. Army Acquisition Support Center 90 JULY –SEPTEMBER 2010
Contracting Community Highlights
W
I
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hen one hears the term “acquisition reform,” his/her initial response may be to say or think, “not again,
been there, done that—and we still don’t have it right.” Today, our approach to acquisition reform is holistic, encompassing which technologies we use, what weapon systems we
buy, funding stability, and the business operations that underlie the whole process. The President and Congress have provided the guidance and legislation to address areas that need reform and improved efficiency in meeting these major problems. We have all heard that the problems start with the process when we establish the requirements for new weapon systems. Specifically, many times we establish requirements that are at the far limit of the technological boundaries. We seek exotic and unproven solutions to warfighting needs, i.e., the bells and whistles that entice. Sometimes these can lead to breakthrough developments, but more often, the result is a disappointing initial performance followed by cost and schedule overruns to correct those performance failures. Then, we repeat the cycle several times before eventually delivering a weapon system late, over budget, and still not at the performance levels that we originally wanted.
To address the issue of “requirements creep,” we will create Configuration Steering Boards that were endorsed by the FY09 National Defense Authorization Act (Weapon Systems Acquisition Reform Act of 2009). These boards provide a mechanism to pre- clude destabilizing requirement changes and match requirements with mature technology. Program managers will employ this forum to control requirement changes and seek moderation of requirements that become drivers of excess cost in system design.
Additionally, we will employ several initiatives to align profit- ability with performance. Most contract fee structures, e.g., incentive fees, will be tied to contractor performance. The use of award fee contracts will be restricted to those situations where more objective measures do not exist. We will also rigor- ously examine service contract strategies to ensure an alignment of fees earned and services provided, and eliminate the use of unpriced contractual actions, whenever possible. Finally, we will ensure that the use of multiyear contracts is limited to instances when real, substantial savings are accrued to the taxpayer.
Army acquisition and contracting are not easy, but enormously complex and large, undertakings. Acquisition reform is similarly
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