WASHINGTON – The uncertainty over whether Congress will pass a budget has been “very challenging” for both the Air Force and its industry partners, the service’s top military acquisitions official said Wednesday.
“The last couple of years, and this year included, have been a real challenging time because of the uncertainty,” Lt. Gen. Ellen Pawlikowski, military deputy for acquisition, told reporters at an event hosted by the Defense Writer’s Group. “First the challenge of the budget going down, but even more the uncertainty of not knowing when you’ll have the ability to execute your contracts.
“It’s made it very challenging, both for us and for industry.”
The good news, such as it is, is that the Air Force has become used to the budget uncertainty and planned accordingly to keep major programs on track this year. But not knowing what fiscal parameters the service will have to operate under next year challenges what acquisition decisions can and must be made to meet priorities.
“I think we’re OK as long as we close within the next month or so on a congressional budget,” she said. “The uncertainty with ’16, obviously, is having an impact on when we make decisions and how we can make those decisions because we just don’t know whether — we have to look at sequestration, but at the same time we are looking to what we need to do, so that makes it a challenge.”
Operating under a continuing resolution for a few months should not derail long-term programs like the T-X trainer or JSTARS replacements, Pawlikowski said. But the continuing resolution doesn’t cover unexpected costs, which could cause problems if the service operates under it for too long.
As an example, Pawlikowski held up the need to procure munitions for the ongoing operations in Syria and Iraq. Those wouldn’t be funded in a continuing resolution, so the service needs to prioritize those funds.
“We have to get orders out for replacements of the munitions we’re using, and sometimes putting those orders on isn’t the day-to-day business that you typically see with a continuing resolution where you’re funded a quarter or whatever the period is,” she noted.
Meanwhile, long-term plans are also on hold until budget clarity is achieved.
“There are certain things we’ve had to look at and say we can’t make that decision until we know a little more about where the budget is going to be,” she said. ■
Email: amehta@defensenews.com.
