(including sizes designed for women) to a change to moisture-wicking fabrics. Te Army approved a plan to phase in the uni- form over four and a half years, allowing Soldiers to wear the new APFU begin- ning in October 2014 with a mandatory possession date of October 2017. Te plan took into account user testing with Soldiers in representative climatic condi- tions at six Army installations; technical testing for durability, colorfastness, laun- dering, moisture wicking, female sizing and fit; time to subsequently optimize the design; time to put the uniform on con- tract with multiple vendors; time to build up production inventories; and time for Soldiers to transition to the APFU.
RIGOROUS PROCESS, VIGOROUS RESULTS
Soldiers assigned to the 3rd BCT, 25th ID perform endurance and mobility training in March at Watts Field on Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, as part of a weeklong advanced physical training course. In 2012, after negative input from a Soldier online survey on the Improved Physical Fitness Uniform, the Army set out to update it with a new design, new material and more sizes to address Soldiers’ concerns. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Armando R. Limon, 3rd BCT, 25th ID)
Repeatedly, senior-level decision reviews at the Pentagon posed the following questions:
• Why can’t the Army just give Soldiers commercial
(for
acquisition management concentration and a focus on system engineering and technology management) for all product and program managers at the O-5 and O-6 levels. And don’t limit the increased requirement to acquisition category (ACAT) I PMs (those who manage the biggest programs); all PMs need a solid base in business and financial educa- tion. Promotion to field-grade officer rank above O-4 (corresponding roughly to the time an officer would be seek- ing Level III PM certification) already requires a graduate degree; therefore, this
recommendation doesn’t present
the Army with an additional education cost.
BUSINESS CASE IN POINT Te recent adoption of the Army Physi- cal Fitness Uniform (APFU) offers an excellent example of an effort that
required a financially responsible acquisi- tion approach. In early 2012, more than 76,000
Soldiers expressed dissatisfac-
tion with the Improved Physical Fitness Uniform (IPFU) in an online survey, pri- marily noting stiff, uncomfortable fabrics and a lack of female sizes. As a result, Army leadership directed PEO Soldier to update the IPFU with higher-performing fabrics, new sizes and a new design to address Soldier dissatisfaction and the expanded use of the uniform in combat zones.
After prototype testing with Soldiers, a series of town halls across Army instal- lations hosted by the sergeant major of the Army and another online survey with approximately 190,000 participat- ing Soldiers, Army leadership approved the APFU in April 2013 with more than 30 improvements, from better sizing
example, Nike UnderArmour) workout gear?
• Why can’t the transition happen faster (begin sooner and take less than three years)?
• Te increase in the price is less than $1. Let’s just buy the slightly more expen- sive one—what’s the big deal?
Answering these questions requires understanding return on investment (ROI)—fundamental principles
taught
in business education curriculums and then subsequently applied in practice, which results in experience. To start with, providing Soldiers commercial products would require the Army to purchase the technical data rights, at a cost of tens of millions of dollars, or pay a per-unit premium in the form of a 10-20 percent markup per item. Both of these options have bad ROI when the Army could upgrade to similar fabrics and design and avoid the commercial product premium.
or
ASC.ARMY.MIL
95
COMMENTARY
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