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NPS Symposium Welcomes Acquisition Professionals, Industry
U.S. Navy photo by MC2 Shawn Stewart

NPS Symposium Welcomes Acquisition Professionals, Industry

By Kenneth A. Stewart

A packed-house of acquisitions professionals, students and academics listen to one of several panels that presented at the 12th Annual Acquisition Research Symposium, May 13. The annual symposium brings together acquisitions professionals from around the world to discuss the latest in acquisitions research and policy.

The Honorable Frank Kendall, Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics, served as one of the symposium's keynote speakers.

"The way you make progress in acquisitions is not by big, flashing programs, but by gradual improvements on multiple fronts over time," said Kendall. "I think the trains are moving in the right direction."

Kendall stressed that it is improvement, not reform, that is necessary in the acquisition world. He noted that if asked to give the Department of Defense's acquisition system a grade, that he would give it either a "B+ or an A-."

"I give us that grade because we win the 'super bowl' every year," said Kendall. "We have a remarkably capable force and that is because we have an acquisitions force that gets the job done."

The symposium also featured panels of acquisitions experts from industry including, amongst others, representatives from the Boeing Corporation and Lockheed Martin. Throughout the conference, industry officials sat side-by-side with senior defense acquisition officials and NPS researchers who offered independent views on the state of acquisition systems and research, with an eye toward improving processes and ensuring U.S. military superiority worldwide.

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Today@NPS showcases some of the speakers, conferences, experiments, lectures, and other events that take place at the Naval Postgraduate School on a daily basis. If you would like more information about any of the highlighted activities please contact the Office of University Communications at pao@nps.edu.
May 2015 Title

May 2015

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