Augustine: Less Project Oversight by Congress
By ANTONIE BOESSENKOOL
Published: 27 Jul 2009 17:45
The U.S. Congress should play a more advisory role rather than a constant hands-on role in military acquisition programs, said the former head of Lockheed Martin and members of Business Executives for National Security (BENS).
Congress should have a role similar to a corporate board of directors, approving military strategies and programs and monitoring program execution, rather than managing individual programs, former Lockheed CEO Norm Augustine said at a July 27 press conference at the Washington office of BENS.
Program management, such as the oversight of production lines, is a task better suited to defense companies, Augustine said.
"Most companies know more about their production capabilities than the government knows about their production capability," he said. "The government's role would become more one of oversight, once the requirements are developed, rather than active day-to-day participation."
BENS released a report July 27 outlining recommendations for acquisition reform that it said were in line with recently enacted legislation from Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Carl Levin, D-Mich. But the group said its recommendations also go beyond that legislation.
BENS formed a task force headed by Augustine that included former military leaders such as retired U.S. Navy Adm. Ed Giambastiani, a former vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and retired Army Gen. Dennis Reimer, a former Army chief of staff, and industry leaders such as FedEx CEO Fred Smith and former ADP CEO Josh Weston. The report's recommendations focused on reforms in three areas: requirements formation, the acquisition work force and program execution.
Sound requirements formation is key, the report said. As requirements are developed, they need to be measured against three things: whether they fit a defined national strategy, whether technology is available for those requirements to be realized and whether requirements fit a "fiscal reality," said BENS CEO Charles Boyd.
"Those things don't exist in the requirements process now," Boyd said.
Requirements for military equipment have tended to be "rather declaratory," Augustine said. "Requirements should be iteratively prepared between people who know what it means to fight wars, people who know what is possible to build - engineers, scientists - and people who know what we can afford, namely cost analysts.
"Today, the people who can address affordability are really not even at the table," Augustine said.
As an example, he added, decisions to begin new weapons programs are often made in isolation. Combined with other new program starts, the total figures exceed budget projections.
"One of our suggestions is, as we approve new requirements, they be required to fit some reasonable projection of future budgets," he said. "We should make it very hard to start new programs, and once started, make it very hard to change programs except for very salient reasons."
New program starts should meet four criteria: the need for the specific capability is generally agreed upon; the technology is available rather than in a "discovery" phase; there is adequate funding to complete the program; and the basic program architecture is strongly agreed upon, such as whether a wheeled vehicle or track vehicle is to be developed.
The task force also recommended that combatant commanders drive requirements for short-term needs, but the secretaries of the armed services drive those for longer-term needs.
"It's really the secretaries of the services that have the cost analysis base capability, the systems engineering capability and so forth, that one needs to address those longer-term requirements," Augustine said.
Augustine and Boyd also addressed President Barack Obama's call to add 20,000 employees to the federal government's acquisition work force, but highlighted difficulties in hiring such specialists. One roadblock is a lengthy and onerous hiring process, they said. But layoffs, especially in the financial industry, have created "an ideal time for the government to get some very talented people," Augustine said.
The current state of the economy and the rising costs of government entitlement programs, debt service and other government spending priorities will pressure defense budgets, the speakers said.
"How much … are we going to have available to support the kind of military that we need?" asked BENS Chairman Joseph Robert. "We do have a crisis coming, [in] 10 to 20 years," he said of the future U.S. budget picture. "I think the Congress is taking this report extremely seriously now. Even though it may not look like a crisis, it should be on the top of their pile."
The report's recommendations echo those in previous reports on acquisition reform from various organizations, but now is a favorable time for acquisition reform, the speakers said.
"The sense of urgency now is higher," Boyd said. "The climate is more fertile for significant change than I've ever seen. I certainly hope that's true."
Help
