Technical skills needed in DoD.

• Author: Canfield, Alan
• Position: Readers' Forum - Letter to the editor

* In reference to the April 2013 Defense Watch editorial, "Pentagon, Contractors 7 Clash Over Profits," a critical component of the acquisition process that is often overlooked is the expertise of the defense laboratories and warfare centers. It is their job to be subject matter experts and to maintain a technical capability in the core competencies needed to develop, field and sustain the weapon systems required.

Many game-changing advancements evolved from the in-house work at warfare centers. The personnel at these institutions are educated and experienced in 11 the technology and challenges required for defense and weapon systems.

With respect to the issues stated in the editorial, warfare centers provide the program management offices with a rigorous review of cost and schedule to evaluate industry proposals. A fundamental requirement for "should cost" is a clear understanding of the technical challenges and requirements, which the warfare centers provide.

Unfortunately, when defense budgets are reduced, warfare center program support is often the first to be cut. This degrades not only their current capability, but the ability to protect and sustain a technology base for future needs. In this, there is a parallel to the needs of industry to maintain a trained workforce.

Similar to the adversarial relationships between program managers and contractors cited in the editorial, warfare centers have also experienced an increase in adversarial relationships with the program offices that they exist to support. This reduced trust degrades the warfare center's ability to...