Joint Light Tactical Vehicle team wins Packard Award for acquisition excellence

By November 7, 2013June 8th, 2014General

By Michael Clow

 

WARREN, Mich. — Marking another sign of strength for the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle program, joint program office leaders celebrated being named one of the four 2013 recipients of the Department of Defense (DOD) David Packard Award in Acquisition Excellence.

The Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) program, an Army-led effort partnered with the U.S. Marine Corps, is working to close a capability gap in existing light tactical vehicle fleets and give commanders a flexible, transportable, protected, networked, and reliable expeditionary vehicle capability.

“The days of front lines and rear areas are gone,” said JLTV Project Manager Col. John R. Cavedo, U.S. Army. “Our objective is to eliminate the tradeoffs commanders have to make today between Mine Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicles and the High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle, and to give them a flexible, expeditionary, and networked vehicle able to handle tomorrow’s diverse challenges.”

The David Packard Excellence in Acquisition Award recognizes DOD civilian and/or military organizations, groups, or teams, whose significant contributions demonstrate exemplary innovation and best acquisition practices. The award recognizes achievements that exemplify the goals and objectives established for furthering life cycle cost reduction and acquisition excellence in DOD.

“I couldn’t be prouder of our teams and their tremendous efforts to keep JLTV on budget, on schedule, and with stable requirements despite tremendous uncertainty. That speaks volumes about this team’s dedication and character,” said Mr. William Taylor, U.S. Marine Corps program executive officer for land systems.

Commitment to the program, which has been identified with the defense strategic guidance, runs deep.

“I’m fully committed to JLTV, and it’s absolutely what our Soldiers need. The JLTV program is tremendously well structured, affordable, and-most importantly-effectively addresses the warfighter’s real needs. My most sincere congratulations to the team for their great work thus far,” said Lt. Gen. William Phillips, principal military deputy to the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics, and Technology.

“This award is a tremendous honor and recognition of the great teamwork between the Army and Marine Corps on this program,” said Kevin Fahey, the Army’s program executive officer for combat support & combat service support. “A collaborative, joint approach is essential to how we fight, and so it’s equally important to how we acquire interoperable future systems.”

The JLTV program is currently in the testing portion of its 33-month engineering and manufacturing development phase, leading to an acquisition milestone and low rate initial production decisions in fiscal year 2015. The program has already been cited as a leader in implementing DOD’s Better Buying Power practices, and its innovative efforts substantially reduced costs, emphasized the benefits of competition in all phases, and shortened the acquisition timeline.

Intended to replace a portion of the Army’s light tactical wheeled vehicle fleet and Marine Corps vehicles with the most demanding mission profiles, over the next three decades, the Army and Marine Corps expect to acquire a total of about 55,000 new vehicles.

Members of the joint program office will accept the award at an upcoming Pentagon ceremony.