UNDERSTANDING ARMY ACQUISITION


LOOK TO THE FUTURE


Gen. John M. Murray talks with Soldiers while being briefed on equipment tested during Joint Warfighting Assessment 19 in May at Yakima Training Center, Washington. Murray is the first commander of the Army Futures Command, which many experts agree is a major development in the effort to speed acquisition. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Audrey Ward, 982nd Combat Camera Company (Airborne))


according to Govini, a data and analytics firm. An analysis by Bloomberg Govern- ment says the number will top $7 billion in 2019.


Te Army has driven the growth in OTA use. In 2012, the Army had approximately 40 OTAs worth less than $500 million. In 2018, it had more than 220 worth more than $2.5 billion. “When we look at the data … the Army has definitely made a calculated decision to use OTA and other middle-tier-of-acquisition approaches for its modernization today,” said Andrew Hunter, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a Washington think tank.


“The most important thing about the numbers is it’s an indicator that people are getting more comfortable with the appli- cation of the OTAs, that they’re finding


good applications in those OTAs, and they’re justified in those OTAs,” Jette said in the interview.


While improved, OTAs are not new. Congress first authorized their use in 1958, with the legislation that created NASA. Congress allowed the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency to use “other transactions” in 1989, and their use was extended to the military services in 1996.


“Tis extension of the authority didn’t come out of nowhere,” said Stan Soloway, presi- dent and CEO of Celero Strategies LLC, a business-growth strategy company work- ing with technology and other firms in the government market. Soloway has also served in government, as deputy under- secretary of defense for acquisition reform and director of the Defense Reform Initia- tive during the Clinton administration.


Efforts to get what is known as produc- tion authority began about 20 years ago, Soloway said, as it became clear that limit- ing OTAs to just the prototype phase of acquisition limited their effectiveness.


Soloway sees the growth in OTAs as a reflection of DOD becoming more customer-focused in a customer-centric world, responding to the frustration of its customers—be they industry, academia or Soldiers—about “an acquisition system that they do not believe has been meet- ing their needs, in terms of either time or capability.”


HOW WE GOT HERE The impetus for the current wave of change in DOD acquisition started in a big way in 2015, when congressio- nal leaders in military affairs—namely Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Rep.


https://asc.ar my.mil 11


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100  |  Page 101  |  Page 102  |  Page 103  |  Page 104  |  Page 105  |  Page 106  |  Page 107  |  Page 108  |  Page 109  |  Page 110  |  Page 111  |  Page 112  |  Page 113  |  Page 114  |  Page 115  |  Page 116  |  Page 117  |  Page 118  |  Page 119  |  Page 120  |  Page 121  |  Page 122  |  Page 123  |  Page 124  |  Page 125  |  Page 126  |  Page 127  |  Page 128  |  Page 129  |  Page 130  |  Page 131  |  Page 132  |  Page 133  |  Page 134  |  Page 135  |  Page 136  |  Page 137  |  Page 138  |  Page 139  |  Page 140  |  Page 141  |  Page 142  |  Page 143  |  Page 144  |  Page 145  |  Page 146  |  Page 147  |  Page 148  |  Page 149  |  Page 150  |  Page 151  |  Page 152  |  Page 153  |  Page 154  |  Page 155  |  Page 156  |  Page 157  |  Page 158  |  Page 159  |  Page 160  |  Page 161  |  Page 162  |  Page 163  |  Page 164  |  Page 165  |  Page 166  |  Page 167  |  Page 168  |  Page 169  |  Page 170  |  Page 171  |  Page 172  |  Page 173  |  Page 174  |  Page 175  |  Page 176