THINK, EXECUTE, IMPROVE


Still, “acquisition reform” is in the air, with the passage of bills by the U.S. House of Representatives and the Sen- ate as part of their respective versions of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2017. But the kind of reform that Congress is propos- ing isn’t what Kendall is after.


“Tere are a great many things wrong with the Senate bill,” he said. “Tere’s the one thing that’s very wrong with the House bill,” which is that it shifts $18 billion out of overseas contingency operations and into the base budget for DOD. Tat pro- posed action has prompted a veto threat from President Obama.


Te next step is for House and Sen- ate conferees to reconcile differences between the two bills, then for Congress to pass the compromise version. “Ten we’ll see if there’s a veto or not,” Kendall said. Given that the presidential election complicates the politics in a big way, it is anyone’s guess when the FY17 NDAA might land on the president’s desk in any case, he acknowledged.


DOING BETTER, INCREMENTALLY


Kendall addresses award winners and audience members at the December 2015 Defense Acquisition Workforce Awards ceremony at the Pentagon. One of the principles underpinning Kendall’s BBP approach is the use of incentives and awards to improve both the professionalism of the workforce and the performance of industry. “We get what we reward,” he noted. (U.S. Army photo by Leroy Council)


“[Acquisition profes- sionals] work in a very difficult environment. They’re constantly criticized by a lot of outside stakeholders who don’t understand what they do at all.”


114


“We’ll see what happens in the election, because I don’t know that we’ll get a bill even until after the election,” which could change the prospects for acquisi- tion reform fundamentally, Kendall said.


“We’ve always had an NDAA, but if there were ever a year when not having an NDAA looked like a realistic prospect … this is probably that year.”


AN ENGINEERING SOLUTION Kendall has served in both Democratic and Republican administrations. He is an engineer, a teacher, a lawyer and a manager, and he knows a thing or two about the military, acquisition, program management, government and statute. He graduated from the United States


Military Academy at West Point, where he has also taught, and spent 10 years on active duty, ultimately retiring as a lieu- tenant colonel after a stint in the Army Reserve. In all, he has more than 40 years of experience in engineering, manage- ment, defense acquisition and national security affairs in private industry, gov- ernment and the military, according to his official biography.


In addition to a bachelor of science degree from West Point and a master’s in aero- space engineering from the California Institute of Technology, Kendall has an MBA from the C.W. Post Center of Long Island University and a juris doctor degree from Georgetown University Law Center.


Army AL&T Magazine October-December 2016


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