In September 2010, the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army for Plans, Programs, and Resources (DASA PPR) established the Army Performance Assessment and Root Cause Analyses (PARCA) office. The purpose was to realign the mission for program visibility, analysis, and reporting from the DASA for Acquisition and Systems Management and to include the related oversight of programs mission identified by the Weapon Systems Acquisition Reform Act (WSARA) of 2009.

The responsibilities of the Army PARCA office are to:

• Provide program visibility and acquisition reporting for all Major Defense Acquisition Programs, Major Automated Information Systems, and Acquisition Categories (ACAT) I, II, and III programs in accordance with 10 United States Code Chapters 144 and 144-A and WSARA.
• Provide performance assessments and root-cause analysis for ACAT I, II, and III programs in accordance with WSARA.
• Provide Earned Value Management expertise for the Army.
• Work on efforts including the Better Buying Power Affordability Initiatives in accordance with the Nov. 3, 2010, Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics memorandum Implementation Directive for Better Buying Power – Obtaining Greater Efficiency and Productivity in Defense Spending.
• Provide Office of the Secretary of Defense policy implementation and guidance for mission areas.

Over the past year, the PARCA office has acted as the Army lead for implementation of the “should cost” Better Buying Power initiative. In addition, the office has been active in DoD’s proposed changes to streamline reporting of Earned Value Management data.