Putting the Right Special Ops Tech in the Right Hands.

• Author: Smith, James H.

A few decades ago, I went through the Army's Ranger School --okay, maybe several decades ago. One of the most important lessons I learned is that every operation starts with a good plan and, conversely, it's hard to recover from a bad plan.

If you know there are going to be obstacles along your route, you need to have a plan to negotiate those obstacles. If you know there will be a river between you and your objective, you better bring a rope and have your team rehearsing how to build rope bridges before you depart. You don't stumble upon a river, throw your hands up and proclaim it to be the "River of Death."

So why has the phrase "Valley of Death" staked such a strong claim in our defense acquisition canon? To be sure, there are valleys in our acquisition process, but they are there for a reason. Not every concept should cross over to become a prototype. Not every prototype should cross over to become a product, and not every product should be produced at scale. Some ideas just don't warrant continued investment by the government, and that's okay. In fact, the earlier we determine that, the better it is for the taxpayer and the better it is for industry partners.

It is a problem, however, when good concepts, prototypes and products don't make it across the valleys when they should. These relevant ideas need assistance. They need a plan--a rope bridge--across the valley, which only becomes a valley of death if you don't have a plan.

At Special Operations Command, we're committed to teaming with industry partners to provide those rope bridges. We've invested in several bridges for use both by our veteran industry partners who have been across the valley before, and especially to our new partners that aren't familiar with the obstacles.

Let's assume that every effort shares the same objective: to enter production at scale. If true, then we should always start with that end in mind.

We need to envision success and set the conditions to achieve that success.

The first rope bridge is the socom.mil website, which explains that the command uniquely manages all phases of the acquisition process under one roof: science and technology to programs of record to sustaining those programs over their lifecycle. That means we own all the valleys, too. We're responsible for identifying good technology, maturing that technology, getting that technology into production and fielding it to our operators. We can't blame someone else for the valleys; they are...