Defense acquisition reform: a case of deja vu.

• Author: Farrell, Lawrence P., Jr.
• Position: Defense Acquisition Performance Assessment

Acting Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England by the middle of next month is expected to endorse an "action plan" that is intended to address the Pentagon's acquisition problems.

A proposed acquisition-reform blueprint will result from the work of an expert team that was hand-picked to be part of the Defense Acquisition Performance Assessment (DAPA) project. England chartered the group to consider every aspect of acquisition--including requirements, organization, legal foundations (such as Goldwater-Nichols), decision methodology, oversight, checks and balances.

Once England approves the recommendations, they will be sent to Congress in late November.

DAPA faces a tough challenge. Currently, more than 80 new major weapon systems are under development, with a combined cost growth of $300 billion and total acquisition cost of nearly $1.5 trillion.

A recent Government Accountability Office study of 26 major acquisition programs suggests the top five programs have nearly doubled in cost during the last four years--in fact, skyrocketing from $281 billion to $521 billion.

The trend is not abating---estimates of cost growth and development time of these same five programs grew 14.3 percent and 5.5 percent, respectively, in the past year alone, according to GAO.

After more than 20 years of numerous attempts to improve the acquisition system, the perception is that no reforms have addressed systemic weaknesses in structure, process and governance of major weapon systems development.

DAPA cites a number of issues that prompted the Defense Department leadership to take action. One is the perception that the military is not keeping up with a changing world--buying the next generation of what we already have today. Another is a "conspiracy of hope" created by an industry must-win mentality and service advocacy for scarce resources.

DAPA also is concerned about "program demagogy" that results from valuing sunk costs more than future options. Further complicating the Pentagon's ability to manage resources is the practice of stretching out funding to support more and more programs, each at its marginally inefficient rate. The problem of "ever-escalating requirements" also has plagued many defense programs.

NDIA and industry representatives had an opportunity to testify recently at a DAPA public hearing. DAPA's leader is retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Ronald T. Kadish, who ran the Missile Defense Agency before retiring from active duty.

Panel members include...