BEWARE THE RUSH TO FAILURE
GOOD PRODUCT DELIVERED FAST
The Rapid Equipping Force (REF) fields products very quickly, including variants on commercially available detection equip- ment—a sign that, for some products or capabilities, an approach that values speed can work well, but the old adage about good, fast or cheap still applies. (U.S. Army photo by REF Public Affairs)
However, OTAs are simply vehicles to speed up the contracting process—ways to avoid cost accounting standards, earned value reporting and the mandatory use of small, disadvantaged, minority-owned and veteran-owned businesses. OTAs avoid these national policy objectives that are part of the FAR.
But speed to contract award should not be the goal—the goal is speed to deliver warfighter capability.
CONCLUSION Acquisition reform initiatives continue to make a difference, with many resulting in delivering capability to the warfighter as quickly as possible. Te key to success in acquisition reform is empowering PMs to tailor acquisition strategies based on the urgency of need, technology maturity and available resources.
Just going fast—or increasing the speed of the program—is not the answer. Speed
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often increases risk in acquisition, result- ing in a higher percentage of failed efforts. Speed to contract award, for example through an OTA, has little correlation to fielding militarily useful and suitable prod- ucts to the warfighter quickly—in fact, it may have the opposite effect. Selecting the proper contracting type and approach results in improved operational warfighter capability in the optimal time, balancing cost, schedule and performance.
A commitment to the education and train- ing of acquisition professionals, as well as the follow-on empowerment of these professionals to do their jobs, promises the best return on investment in helping to speed up defense acquisition. Continued training and education as well as leader development will help solidify the bonds of mutual trust and respect between the acquisition and warfighter communities.
For more information, contact the author at
rfmortlo@nps.edu.
ROBERT F. MORTLOCK, PH.D., COL., USA (Ret.), managed defense systems devel- opment and acquisition efforts for the last 15 of his 27 years in the U.S. Army, culminat- ing in his assignment as the project manager for Soldier Protection and Individual Equip- ment in the Program Executive Office for Soldier. He retired in September 2015 and now teaches defense acquisition and program management in the Graduate School of Business and Public Policy at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California. He holds a Ph.D. in chemical engineering from the University of California, Berke- ley, an MBA from Webster University, an M.S. in national resource strategy from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces and a B.S. in chemical engineering from Lehigh University. He is also a recent graduate from the Post-Doctoral Bridge Program of the University of Florida’s Hough Gradu- ate School of Business, with a management specialization. He holds Level III certifi- cations in program management, test and evaluation, and engineering.
Army AL&T Magazine
Spring 2019
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