URGENT NEED: SENSIBLE REQUIREMENTS
While the Army buys some of its capa- bilities as commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) products, a good many of its required capabilities necessitate defining specifications from scratch, essentially turning someone’s vision into reality. Often, that’s reality-by-committee, because the requirements necessary to bring a capabil- ity into existence are based on the input of the capability’s stakeholders—anyone who would be involved with using, con- tracting, acquiring, testing, fielding or disposing of the capability.
development document (CDD). Te CDD must define the capability for
So, when DOD decides it needs a capability, someone must develop a capa- bility
Congress and, by extension, taxpayers and all stakeholders. Accordingly, the CDD defines the requirement as to what to purchase.
GENESIS OF REQUIREMENTS A capability requirement starts when Army leadership agrees that a military need exists and approves the need by sign- ing a capabilities-based assessment (C-BA) document. Te C-BA for the jungle boot, for example, was approved in 2012. Te Army has not had a certified jungle boot since the end of the Vietnam War. Tis C-BA allowed for multiple facets of the Army leadership to agree on the need to acquire the jungle boot, with estimated cost. Based on that cost, the C-BA was
assigned an acquisition category (ACAT) number. ACAT I programs are the high- priced items, such as tanks, ships and airplanes, with program costs of more than $2.79 billion. ACAT II programs have program costs between $835 million and $2.79 billion. ACAT III programs have costs below $835 million.
In the real world, when you decide you need something, you go out and get what your budget will allow. Sometimes that may entail a conversation with a spouse or significant other—a stakeholder—to make certain that everyone agrees that the purchase of a new pair of boots, for example, is justifiable and within budget. Such a conversation is nothing compared with what military personnel have to go through to obtain stakeholder approval to acquire a new capability.
To start, a Center of Excellence (COE) requirement writer within the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) develops a C-BA. Te COE could be one of several established by branches of the Army. Te C-BA for the jungle boot was assigned and completed by a requirement writer within the U.S. Army Maneuver Center of Excellence (MCOE) at Fort Benning, Georgia. A C-BA con- tains a cost-benefit analysis that estimates the cost and value of developing, fielding, maintaining and disposing of a capability.
With the approval of a C-BA for a jun- gle boot, MCOE personnel develop the CDD that provides the requirements for it. What general specifications and efforts are required to obtain, field, train for, maintain and dispose of the jungle boot?
THE ETERNAL PROCESS
For Sisyphus, the Greek mythological figure who was condemned for eternity to push a boulder up a hill, only to have it roll back down as he neared the top, eternity was a very long time. For those developing ACAT III requirements, the process only seems like an eternity. (Image by U.S. Army Acquisition Support Center)
To recap quickly: • The C-BA establishes that what the military needs is actually a boot—not, for example, a different way of wearing an existing boot.
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Army AL&T Magazine
October-December 2017
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