SMALL CHANGE, BIG DIFFERENCE


MANY DETAILS TO CONSIDER


Local nationals contracted to assist with retrograde operations in Afghanistan remove wood at a site coordinated by the 4th Resolute Support Sustainment Brigade (RSSB) at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, in December 2014. The objective was to prevent financial and material waste and remove structures that did not meet safety standards. A plethora of laws, policies and procedures—from both the U.S. and the host nation—govern the U.S. military’s provision of support to its forces, other U.S. governmental agencies and coalition partners. (Photo by Sgt. Adam A. Erlewein, 4th RSSB Public Affairs)


appropriate additional funds, and legislators are reluctant to permit federal agencies to reprogram existing funds from one appropriation to another.


An amendment allowing geographic combatant commanders to reprogram funds between different appropriations under exceptional situations, especially during the initial stages of a contingency operation, would immediately improve military responsiveness while allowing deployed contracting officers to buy smarter and faster. Tis limited authority would provide deploying forces with greater access to commercial support in theater, while enabling contracting officers to acquire the best support at the best value.


Just as importantly, it would remove a significant stumbling block from the timeline for opening a theater and rapidly building combat power. Te senior commander would become accountable for any reprogramming decisions, and the legisla- tive branch could retain control and fulfill its fiscal responsibility by establishing dollar thresholds on this reprogramming author- ity, auditing subsequent expenditures and investigating dubious command decisions.


CONCLUSION Current acquisition laws have created a deliberative review pro- cess designed to ensure that government officials in every federal


128 Army AL&T Magazine October-December 2016


agency, and especially within DOD, exercise an appropriate level of stewardship in spending taxpayer dollars.


Tis formal and time-consuming process does not always meet the needs of Soldiers deployed in harm’s way, however. Granting senior commanders the authority to transfer money between dif- ferent defense appropriations during a crisis would demonstrate a sincere commitment to the success of our military operations and the welfare of our troops.


(Tis article contains the author’s own opinions and does not reflect the official policy of the Army or DOD.)


LT. COL. WILLIAM C. LATHAM JR. (USA, Ret.) directs the Army’s operational contract support course for the Army Logistics University at Fort Lee, Virginia. He has an M.A. in English from the University of Alaska Fairbanks and a B.A. in English from Georgetown University, where he earned his commission as a distinguished military graduate of the university’s ROTC program. He previously taught at the United States Military Academy at West Point and the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, and is the author of “Cold Days in Hell: American POWs in Korea” (Texas A&M University Press, 2013).


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