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This research performed a gap analysis on the existing Department of Defense (DoD) program management competency standards to determine if changes are required to fully adopt product portfolio management (PPM) strategies in defense acquisition. Current DoD program management standards are compared to the Project Management Institute's Portfolio Management Professional certification standards to analyze alignment and gaps between the standards. Barrier to Implementation (BTI) scores are assigned to address the identified gaps in the DoD standard. The study found that the DoD program management competencies are on average 41% aligned with portfolio management industry standards. The DoD program management competencies are least aligned with the portfolio management domains of governance and strategic alignment. The composite BTI score indicates low to medium level of implementation barriers for most of the gaps. Results indicate that the DoD is capable of conducting PPM, and further research is needed to fully align the current competency standards with industry best practices. Defense acquisition senior leaders should consider formulating DoD portfolio management career field functional competencies to address congressional mandates for portfolio management implementation within the DoD.

The Program Management Office (PMO) is responsible for the quality and integrity of the data associated with system delivery and performance. When competing a new system or system update, the Program Manager (PM) is required to complete acquisition planning activities for a specific procurement and to develop a well-conceived acquisition strategy. This activity includes developing and validating Technical Data Package (TDP) requirements. Often, the program staff are committed to managing the current system and do not have the resources to fully review and validate the TDP for a major competition. Therefore, the TDP may not represent the best product to industry. A PMO may consider having an outside entity conduct a review of their technical data to assess the readiness and viability of the TDP. An Independent Assessment (IA) may provide significant information for understanding what technical data is available, what data is missing for a competitive solicitation, and what needs to be purchased under a new or follow-on contract. An IA can assist with conducting the first steps in the competitive process of developing requirements and conducting market research. The purpose of an IA is to provide the PMO with additional validation that the TDP is sound for a solicitation and subsequent contract.

The purpose of this research is to analyze the potential advantages, disadvantages, and risks to cost, schedule, and performance of shifting the role of operational test and evaluation (OT&E) of the Next Generation Jammer Mid-Band (NGJ-MB) program from a dedicated OT&E squadron at Air Test and Evaluation Squadron Nine (AIRTEVRON NINE; VX-9) to a fleet aviation electronic attack squadron (VAQ).

Many United States Naval ships require a predetermined inventory of MAMs to troubleshoot failed equipment installed onboard. MAMs are high-value assets that require 100% inventory validity to help reduce equipment downtime. Fleet Logistics Center, San Diego, has raised concerns due to declining MAM inventory accuracy results onboard Naval ships in the Pacific Fleet.

In April 2020, the DoD senior procurement executives established a new contracting competency model and a single level of certification program for the DoD contracting workforce. The new competency model is based on the National Contract Management Association (NCMA) Contract Management Standard (CMS). This new DoD contracting competency model complies with the requirement in Section 861 of the FY2020 NDAA to base a professional certification on standards developed by a third-party accredited program. The purpose of this research is to conduct a competency assessment on a sample of the DoD contracting workforce using the NCMA CMS. This research will answer the following question: Based on the competency assessment results, in which contract management competencies is the workforce less proficient and less knowledgeable? Based on the competency assessment results, recommendations for competency development is provided to the assessed organization.

The Defense Industrial Base (DIB) is an ever changing landscape that requires acquisition professionals to maintain vigilance over its climate. Ever since the mid-1990s the DIB has shrunk substantially due to a variety of reasons. In this study we focus on Navy Auxiliary Systems, particularly Air Conditioning and Refrigeration (AC&R) and Compressed Air system. Data gained through analysis of contracting history and from subject matter experts (SMEs) and In-Service Engineering Agents (ISEAs) is used to perform a Sector by Sector, Tier by Tier (S2T2) Fragility and Criticality (FaC) Assessment of AC&R and Compressed Air systems. The assessment revealed that both AC&R and Compressed Air systems are on relatively secure footing. With both systems it is important to avoid vendor lock with an aim to increase competition to optimize cost, schedule, and performance on future capabilities.

The Navy acquisition community has made significant strides in modernizing policies and contracting vehicles to better support U.S. warships and personnel with husbanding services both at home and abroad. Although much has been done to mitigate risks, reduce inefficiencies, and improve lag times in service provided, serious setbacks have occurred and continue to occur. The most prevalent of these examples can be seen in the Fat Leonard–Glenn Defense Marine Asia scandal to the most recent Multinational Logistics Services corruption case for services rendered in the Middle East, Asia, and other regions. This research investigates some potential shortfalls in the husbanding service provider services process while also providing insights into potential areas of improvement, scheduling efficiency, cost savings, and higher quality service port visits for U.S. Navy ships. The Husbanding Service Portal and the Global Multiple Award Contract strategy are two of the primary tools utilized to examine the correlation of pricing, competition, and performance in task order awards for overseas port visits across all platforms and port visit locations of U.S. Navy ships over the past 5 years . The authors have determined, based on the quantitative analysis, that it would be of great interest for Navy leadership to examine the data and findings within to better manage costs, improve audit compliance, and enhance warfighter operational readiness in the great power competition. The authors have concluded from their research that the Global Multiple Award Contract has resulted in significant costs savings due to increased competition compared to the previous Multiple Award Contracts, with the exception of a small group of port locations outlined in this research paper.

As of today DOD project management is structured differently from industry. Industry has made advancements in PM that the DOD should consider for adoption. By better aligning the DOD and industry recognized competency standards, the DOD may be able to better address long observed cost, schedule, and performance issues.

The Department of Defense (DoD) and its industry partners face an uncertain fiscal environment that includes constraints from continuing resolutions (CRs), the absence of a 2-year budget agreement, and budgetary pressure from program growth, inflation, and other cost increases. Also, administration priorities include many initiatives (such as supply chain resiliency, Made in America, diversity and inclusion, and climate actions) that can impact DoD requirements and contracting. In addition, the defense industrial base needs to invest and prepare for new ways to support its DoD customers. In this paper, the PSC Foundation describes recent trends in DoD funding and contract obligations and explores how those trends link to current challenges and new priorities. A panel of top defense experts with experience in both government and industry will then discuss the impacts of limited defense budgets and the constraints of CRs on defense acquisition of products and services and the defense industrial base. They will also discuss the impact of the Biden–Harris administration’s stated priorities on defense spending as reflected in the FY2023 President’s Budget Request and Future Years Defense Program and ways that the defense industry can plan and prepare to help address and support those priorities.

The National Security Innovation and Industrial Base (NSIB) is becoming detached from the greater U.S. economic base. Specifically, in a departure from most of U.S. history, much of the domestic economic engine—private industry—is choosing not to work with the federal government in general, and the Department of Defense (DoD) in particular. At the same time the federal government is losing access to leading commercial solutions, those companies who are committed to remaining in the NSIB are hamstrung by statutes and government policies that inhibit innovation and adaption. Until the federal government looks inward and matches policies to the realization that it cannot dictate to industry the terms of contracts, the DoD will often get what it pays for: less innovation, less access to leading commercial companies, fewer commercial capabilities incorporated into national security capabilities, and a loss of ground in the race for technology overmatch. This article identifies some of the policies and regulations driving these trends and proposes areas ripe for legislation and policy changes that could begin to inject more vitality and innovation into the NSIB.

Medical supply shortages occur in mass casualty events in operational military environments. These challenge environments both lead to and exacerbate medical supply shortages. This study answers the research questions: Does 3D printing have the potential to positively affect medical logistics operations in these challenging environments, and if so, which Class VIII(a) consumable medical supplies show high potential? A qualitative case analysis investigates the challenges of medical logistics in austere, deployed environments, particularly in mass-casualty scenarios, and the implications of additive manufacturing to medical logistics operations in these environments. The analysis and findings suggest that some Class VIII(a) medical supplies are not good candidates for 3D printing, but others meet characteristic requirements to be 3D printed in operational environments. The study results in initial insights, propositions, and recommendations on how to proceed with 3D printing to support medical logistics operations in operational environments.

This study is an analysis of the impact of federal continuing resolutions on defense acquisitions. It focuses on the early stage of the acquisitions lifecycle when purchase requests are prepared and submitted to the acquisitions system. The research objective is to quantify the impacts of continuing resolutions on the number of purchase requests created, the processing period for acceptance of purchase requests into the acquisition system, and the total dollar amount of purchase requests. The analysis used data taken from the USMC Purchase Request Builder system, a database for purchase order creation prior to a requests acceptance into the acquisitions system. The sample obtained describes over 1,000 unique purchase requests generated between FY16 through FY19. The results of the analysis revealed strong impacts of CRs on the number of purchase requests initiated per week and on the total price of individual purchase requests. The results show that the weekly average number of requests generated is reduced by nearly half during a continuing resolution. The regressions using the count of purchase requests per week also revealed strong impacts purchase requests for both goods and services, though the impact may be greater on service requests. The estimates of the impact of Continuing Resolutions on the total price of individual requests revealed a significant impact on service requests. The results showed that the lack of budget authority is associated with a reduction in the size of individual requests and that this effect disproportionately effects service requests. All of the estimations described in this report made special care to separate the effects of CRs from the underlying seasonal trend in government purchasing that is often aligned with “use it or lose it” behaviors. Both the count of purchase request initiation and the Total Purchase Price effects persisted after including these seasonal controls. Our analysis of PRALT length, the time required for a req

The Army Combat Cloth Face Covering (CCFC) effort was initiated in response to the SECDEF memorandum signed April 5, 2020, subject: DoD Guidance on the Use of Cloth Face Coverings. In the memorandum, the Secretary of Defense (SECDEF) committed to implementing all measures necessary to mitigate risks to the spread of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). The memorandum signed by the SECDEF directed that all individuals on Department of Defense (DoD) property, installations, and facilities should wear a face covering when they were unable to maintain the proper social distance in public areas or work centers. Program Executive Office Soldier was directed by the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Acquisition, Logistics, and Technology) to identify contracting sources that could manufacture face coverings on an expedited timeline. The purpose of this study is to identify the acquisition strategy for the Army’s CCFC program. The goal is to determine if the pursued acquisition process was the most proficient approach in terms of cost, schedule, and performance. This research identifies the Army’s acquisition approach, policies, and procedures and provides recommendations on how to improve similar requirements in the future.

As commercial e-commerce portals are being developed for use in the federal government, some stakeholders in federal acquisitions are worried they will lose their place in the market. Small Businesses, for instance, have expressed concern that they cannot compete with a potential technological monopoly run by a company like Amazon. This research identifies how online marketplaces can provide market efficiencies to government buyers without sacrificing competition and diversity among providers.

This paper addresses the system effectiveness methodology and its intended role in acquiring and sustaining U.S. military weapon systems from 1958 to 2021. Given the prolonged period covered by this study and the many changes to the acquisition process, it would be reasonable to expect the methodology to change and adapt, and the study supports this assumption. The study uses the innovative approach of applying three qualitative methods: a structured review of the literature related to system effectiveness, a grounded theory analysis of the structured literature review, and a historiography of the initial grounded theory results. The research identifies five epochs, each marked by changes in the acquisition guidance. The conclusions are fourfold. First, the role of system effectiveness today is vastly diminished from its original purpose because the original material was not widely accessible to the community of interest during the formative years. The grounded theory result was that the concept was never allowed to mature because of changes that marked the second epoch's advent. Second, analysis of source documents provides insight into how to correct past misconceptions and incorporate system effectiveness into modern engineering. Third, the models developed in epoch one may have relevance for today's problems.

In the wake of a major corruption conspiracy, the U.S. Navy reformed husbanding services procedures to increase competition, auditability, and accountability with the end goal of reducing expenditures. The first policy change, Off-Ship Bill Pay (OSBP), formalized a process for procuring, rendering, and paying for husbanding services to increase oversight. The second policy change increased the use of multiple award contracts (MACs) in which multiple vendors are awarded a contract over a region, increasing competition for individual port visits. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the effects of these policy changes on the cost of husbanding services. Multiple regression was used to account for port visit characteristics that affect cost such as ship type and the number of days in port. MACs demonstrated a reduction effect on the cost of port visits. Further, OSBP appears to have a negligible effect on port visit cost after the initial learning curve for both Navy personnel and vendors.

The purpose of our research is to identify gender disparities in retention amongst Navy Supply Corps Officers. Our goal is to provide a clear assessment of retention of gender diversity across time and rank in the Supply Corps community. We will also identify factors leading to female retention among Navy Supply Corps Officers compared to female officers Navy-wide.

In the arena of globalization and competitive business environments, there is an emergent need for retail organizations to capitalize on technological tools and solutions. Retailers that adopt Internet of Things (IoT) technologies improve customer experiences and achieve cost savings. In this regard, the Pakistani-based retail chain Canteen Stores Department (CSD) can use IoT technologies to enhance its competitive advantage. This study aims to create a deeper understanding of how CSD retail operations can use IoT technologies to significantly modernize and improve CSD’s business offerings.

The DoD’s new software acquisition pathway prioritizes speed of delivery, advocating agile software processes. Estimating the cost and schedule of agile software projects is critical at an early phase to establish baseline budgets and to select competitive bidders. The challenge is that common ag-ile sizing measures such as story points and user stories are not practical for early estimation as these are often reported after contract award in DoD. This study provides a set of parametric effort and schedule estimation models for agile projects using a sizing measure that is available before proposal evaluation based on data from 36 DoD agile projects. The results suggest that initial software requirements, defined as the sum of functions and external interfaces, is an effective sizing measure for early estimation of effort and schedule of agile projects. The models’ accuracy improves when application domain groups and peak staff are added as inputs.

The Department of Defense (DoD) is challenging Acquisition professionals to manage the development of systems incorporating AI functions either as upgrades or new programs of record. But, AI functions present unique challenges associated with requirements and subsequently when creating a suitable Contract Data Requirements List (CDRL). The problem stems from the ability to ensure the quality and quantity of training data sets which can limit the reliability of AI performance. Currently, there is limited guidance regarding topics for discussion during an AI requirements review or as to what AI related information should be required in CDRLs. However, a recent investigation into the lack of AI development guidelines prompted a NOSSA-funded project. Using an AI “sandbox” approach, a DoD representative program, involving AI/ML algorithms supporting a mission planner with autonomous vehicle selection and navigation, was used to determine realistic requirements specific to systems incorporating one or more AI functions. As a result of their analysis, this paper presents contents for an AI Development Plan (AIDP) to be part of a CDRL. Within the AIDP, measurements and new evaluation methods are also offered, as well as questions and considerations to support quality AI development.

The purpose of this research is to analyze the contract closeout process and determine what is causing the backlog of contracts in the contract closeout process. Specifically, the contracts currently in closeout at Defense Contract Management Agency Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control Orlando (DCMA LMMFC-ORL) will be analyzed to determine which activities are holding up the closeout process for those contracts. In addition, this research will help DCMA LMMFC-ORL improve its contract closeout process by identifying the reasons for the backlog of contracts needing closeout and thus, allowing the deobligation of funds that the DoD can then use in further procurements. To mitigate the current backlog of contracts in the contract closeout process, the following questions were asked: Based on the analysis of the contract closeout process at DCMA LMMFC-ORL, what are the reasons for the backlogs of contracts? Based on the findings, how can DCMA LMMFC-ORL improve its contract closeout process to reduce the backlogs of contracts waiting to be closed out, and any funding due to DoD can be de-obligated?

The recent Overmatch championed Artificial Intelligence and Networks (AINet) Advanced Naval Technology Exercise (ANTX) demonstrated an alternative all-digital ANTX format enabled by integrated Rapid Innovation Labs (iRILs). This resulted in shortened ANTX planning and execution timelines, increased focus on technologies of interest, earlier integration into naval architectures, sharing of relevant operational data with participants, and meaningful feedback to developers throughout integration phases, informing research and development (R&D) and program acquisitions. An iRIL is a digital environment and an acquisition tool used to address priority Fleet needs, evaluate technologies and prototypes, and inform and influence external partner R&D investments. An all-digital iRIL can facilitate faster, smaller cycles of iterative experimentation of component technologies of interest within representative Fleet architectures and simulated operational environments. Future applications of iRILs could fundamentally change the way we acquire systems. The use of open competitive events such as an ANTX Prize Challenge could yield component level, containerized technologies of interest that are matured throughout the event process and can be assessed as well-behaved. Such well-behaved software containers or component technologies may enter the Overmatch Software Armory (OSA) or Live, Virtual, and Constructive (LVC) pipelines, achieving rapid authorities to operate (ATO), cycling to a ship within days.

A systemic diagram (systemigram) was developed to provide a systems view of the key elements and drivers of the complex defense acquisition system in the United States. An iterative process was used to develop the systemigram, after assessing the basic relationships among key actors and organizations within the system. The diagram provides a high-level overview of the Department of Defense ecosystem as it relates to acquisition, addressing the lack of available high-level visual representations of the overall acquisition system elements and their basic interactions within the literature. Using this diagram, individuals unfamiliar with the defense acquisition system can become better acquainted with it, while those familiar with defense acquisition are provided with a useful artifact to stimulate shared understanding, spark conversations about how to improve acquisition outcomes, and focus on the key inputs, processes, and ultimate goal of military capability.