WASHINGTON: Air Force leaders have announced their plan for improving acquisition, which will have far-reaching impacts on the way the service develops and buys defense capabilities for the nation.
The Air Force’s acquisition improvement plan “will serve as our strategic framework for the critical work of modernizing and recapitalizing our air, space and cyber systems,” Secretary of the Air Force Michael Donley and Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz said May 8 in a joint memorandum introducing the plan.
The plan addresses shortcomings in the acquisition process that were identified during protests by contractors on major programs and by subsequent reviews of the service’s key acquisition processes.
The plan outlines five initiatives with 33 actions that are intended to “ensure rigor, reliability and transparency across the Air Force acquisition enterprise,” according to Secretary Donley and General Schwartz.
The five initiatives are designed to:
- Revitalize the Air Force acquisition workforce
- Improve the requirements generation process
- Instill budget and financial discipline
- Improve Air Force major source selections
- Establish clear lines of authority and accountability within acquisition organizations
Perhaps the most significant action proposed is to increase in the size, and improve the training and experience of the Air Force’s professional acquisition corps, which has been cut by 41 percent over the past 20 years.
The plan calls for immediate action to increase the workforce by 258 military and 1,804 civilian personnel and an improvement in the hiring, recruiting, retention and training programs essential to maintaining a quality professional corps.
“Recapturing acquisition excellence requires an experienced, skilled, empowered and accountable workforce and begins with proper requirements and adequate, stable funding,” said Lt. Gen. Mark D. Shackelford, military deputy to the assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition. “We will continue to shape and size our workforce and ensure professional development for our personnel.”
Acquisition officials said regardless of workforce and process improvements, financial discipline must remain a critical focus. In this regard, the plan calls for more realistic budgeting and tighter cost control at all acquisition phases with the flexibility to adjust or cancel programs whose costs grow beyond acceptable levels.
“We are committed to being responsible stewards of the taxpayers’ money and a provider of winning capabilities for our nation’s warfighters,” General Shackelford said.
