NEED TO KNOW

Acquisition Research Program Newsletter

September 6, 2024       —       Issue 212

Happy Friday! 

In the news this week:

Congress is back in session after their August recess, which means we have official word that lawmakers are planning for a continuing resolution that may last until January. 

U.S. Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Eric Smith released his 39th Commandant's Planning Guidance. 

• The general still wants Marines to balance crisis response missions with modernization, integrate with the Navy, improve quality of life, help recruit and retain other Marines and better use the Marine Reserve.
• The document starts with Smith's priorities of discipline and core values, what he calls "our ethical foundation."
• In a short section on Fiscal Environment, Smith makes a timely point: "An on-time and predictable budget remains the most consequential means of success, and I will continue to advocate for predictable and timely funds to maintain the momentum of our progress."

Air Force acquisition chief Andrew Hunter spoke about the acquisition path ahead for the Sentinel Intercontinental Ballistic Missile program, which filed a Nunn-McCurdy breach earlier this year. 

• Hunter explained that the Air Force radically underestimated the complexity of the ground-based infrastructure needed to support the new missiles, including launch centers, silos, and copper cable. 
• Now that the program is getting serious scrutiny, the Air Force is reevaluating requirements "line by line" looking for places to cut costs. 

Our top story brings the latest update on the incorporation of software bills of materials (SBOMs) into acquisition processes.

• The Army plans to require SBOMs for most software -- excluding cloud services -- by February. 

A Federal News Network conversation examines a recent protest of a Navy contract, showing how challenging it can be to meet the requirements for the "rule of two" -- determining through market research that two small businesses can provide a good and thus setting aside the contract for small businesses.

• In this case, the contracting officer didn't verify that the part in question (sonar sounding set) was produced by an American manufacturer.

In ARP news, we're looking for your proposals to join us in May at the 22nd Annual Acquisition Research Symposium & Innovation Summit.

• We anticipate many robust conversations on the challenge of transitioning technology to the warfighter. Make sure you're part of it!

In other ARP news, your humble editor has news of her own.

• After five years of producing this newsletter and supporting the Acquisition Research Program at Naval Postgraduate School, I will be stepping away from this work so that I can better tackle the challenge (and joy!) of parenting my delightfully young and energetic children. Next week will be my last newsletter.
• The newsletter will continue under new leadership. You can still email suggestions for content to our team at arp@nps.edu.
• A huge thanks from me to all of you in this acquisition community who have made this job so enjoyable intellectually and personally--and for the important work you do to support our national security. 

And continuing on the topic of working/not working, our "One More Thing" article shares some history on Labor Day and the efforts to shorten work hours for Americans over the past 130 years.

• May we all value the right to work and the right to be lazy when we (and others) need to be.
• As the old slogan goes, "eight hours for work, eight hours for sleep, eight hours for what you will."

This Week's Top Story 

Army set to require SBOMs for new software by early next year
Jared Serbu, Federal News Network

By next February — and possibly sooner — the Army expects to have new rules in place that will require detailed ingredient lists for virtually all of the new software the service buys or builds.

After nearly two years of gathering feedback from industry, Doug Bush, the Army’s top acquisition official, signed a memo that orders the service’s procurement community to begin incorporating software bills of materials (SBOMs) into most new contracts that involve software.

The directive gives the Army 90 days to develop implementation guidance for SBOMs, including sample language for requiring them in contracts. Once that’s done, individual program offices will have another 90 days before they’ll have to add those requirements, including for subcontractors.

“The government has a shared responsibility to manage [supply chain risk],” Bush, the assistant secretary of the Army for acquisition, logistics and technology wrote in the Aug. 16 memo. “Software is a subset of [supply chain risk management, and SCRM is to be conducted on systems throughout their lifecycle. Army Directive 2024-02 emphasizes the Army’s reliance on software and the importance of understanding the risks systems can introduce to a network and how to mitigate those risks to the greatest extent possible.”

The new policy does include one big carve-out: contracting officers won’t have to insist on SBOMs for cloud services, at least not “at this time”. But for most other software — ranging from new development work at the government’s expense to purely commercial-off-the-shelf and open source software, SBOMs will be mandatory.

ARP and NPS News

Call for Proposals: 22nd Annual Acquisition Research Symposium and Innovation Summit

Join us in Monterey next May 7-8 for the 22nd Annual Acquisition Research Symposium & Innovation Summit. This year, the symposium is combined with an Innovation Summit under the overarching theme of "Transitioning Technology."

• The goal of this dual event is to explore and promote innovative ways to transition technology from research and development to programs of record to support the warfighter.

Proposals are due November 18.  Learn more.
 

National University of Singapore, NPS Advance Critical Educational Partnership
Matthew Schehl and Javier Chagoya, Naval Postgraduate School

Three Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) students recently returned from six months studying systems engineering at the National University of Singapore (NUS) through a strategic partnership between NPS and NUS’ Temasek Defence Systems Institute (TDSI).

In a ceremony held July 11 at TDSI, U.S. Navy Lt. Cmdr. Alex Anderson and two U.S. Marine Corps officers, Capt. Susan Figlioli and Capt. Jordan Figlioli, were recognized for earning their Master of Defence Technology and Systems (MDTS) degrees through the unique exchange program that enables qualified NPS students to earn degrees from both institutions.  Read more.
 

Bring Back Disruptive Thinkers and Radical Ideas
Commander Reed A. Kitchen, U.S. Navy | USNI Proceedings

NPS alumnus U.S. Navy Commander Reed Kitchen argues in Proceedings that we should "...encourage TEDx-like events within each warfare community (at the appropriate classification levels). Sticky ideas could make their way to a larger forum hosted annually by the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS), home of the Naval Innovation Center..."  Read more.
 

Using Multimodal AI to Streamline Contract Management Processes
Daniel J. Finkenstadt, PhD, and Tojin Thomas Eapen, PhD | Contract Management Magazine

From former NPS professor Dan Finkenstadt.  Advanced AI systems that analyze and generate insights from diverse data types can streamline workflows, enhance collaboration, and drive better outcomes. Read more.

Acquisition and Innovation

Air Force going ‘line by line’ to bring down nuclear missile costs
Stephen Losey, Defense News

CIA looks to fast track AI adoption through cloud contract
Edward Graham, Nextgov/FCW

Space Force defends plan to buy smaller, cheaper satellites to reinforce GPS
Sandra Erwin, Space News

SDA More than Doubles GD’s Contract for Ground Ops, Integration
Greg Hadley, Air & Space Forces Magazine

Production scaling woes delay next Space Development Agency launches
Courtney Albon, Defense News

European officials vow to boost defense production, but some worry it won’t be enough
Patrick Tucker, Defense One

The Navy made a big mistake in a small business procurement
Tom Temin and Zach Prince, Federal News Network

Research

PPBE Impact on Technology Transition: Findings and Recommendations
Jeff Kojac, Olivia Letts, Edward Hyatt, Ph.D., and Jerry McGinn, Ph.D. | Baroni Center for Government Contracting

Audit of Air Force Defective Parts and Contractor Restitution
DoD Inspector General

Great Power Competition: Implications for Defense—Issues for Congress (Updated August 28, 2024)
Congressional Research Service

Events

Small Business Summit 2024
Baroni Center for Government Contracting and Acquisition Innovation Research Center
September 10, 2024  |  8:00 AM-1:00 PM ET

Advana Recompete Industry Day
Chief Data & Artificial Intelligence Office
September 18, 2024

Naval AI Summit
24-26 September 2024
At the United States Naval Academy, Annapolis, MD, with support from Naval Postgraduate School  |  in-person and remote

Who: Defense AI leadership (DoD, DoN, USN, USMC, other Services, Joint Force), Navy AI Task Force leads, other AI practitioners across the Naval Establishment, industry partners, and Allies and partners.

What:  Information sharing and collaboration event

In conjunction with the Summit, a day-long "AI for Knuckleddraggers" course will be held Monday, 23 September.  

AI for Knuckledraggers
23 September 2024
United States Naval Academy, Annapolis, MD  |  in-person only

AIA/NDIA Technical Data Rights Forum
September 25-26, 2024
Arlington, VA

Association of the United States Army Annual Meeting & Exposition
14-16 October
Washington, DC

UTAC 2024 (Unmanned Tactical Autonomous Control)
October 21-25, 2024
Fort Benning, GA

Defense Manufacturing Conference (DMC) 2024
December 2-5, 2024
Austin, TX

Policy & Strategy

39th Commandant's Planning Guidance
U.S. Marines

FAR Case 2023-003, Prohibition on the Use of Reverse Auctions for Complex, Specialized, or Substantial Design and Construction Services-- Request for Comments
Federal Register

Defense and Federal Government

Warfighting, quality of life prioritized in USMC commandant guidance
Todd South, Marine Times

Navy testing autonomous flight capabilities with aerial targets
Mikayla Easley, Defense Scoop

Guetlein: Space Force Moving to Counter New Adversary Kill Webs
Unshin Lee Harpley, Air & Space Forces Magazine

USAF Rethinks Whether It Needs a Manned 6th-Gen Fighter for Air Superiority
Greg Hadley, Air & Space Forces Magazine

SECNAV Del Toro Violated Hatch Act During U.K. Trip, Says Office of Special Counsel
Heather Mongilio, USNI News

Commentary: China’s defense spending: The $700 billion distraction
M. Taylor Fravel, George Gilboy, and Eric Heginbotham | War on the Rocks

Commentary: Tomorrow’s Army is here. Can it get past yesterday’s bureaucracy?
David Ignatius, The Washington Post

Congress

Congress will land on $833B defense budget—and a CR of unknown length, top HASC lawmaker says
Audrey Decker, Defense One

White House Wants an Extra $2B for FY24 Virginia-class Subs, Attack Boat Pair Could Cost $11.3B
Sam LaGrone, USNI News

One more thing...

A nationwide 30-hour workweek? It almost happened.
Gillian Brockell, The Washington Post

The nature of work underwent a profound shift during the covid pandemic. Millions of office workers began working from home, and then many shifted to a hybrid schedule. Some businesses, such as Kickstarter, experimented with four-day workweeks — without reducing salaries. In Congress, Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.) introduced legislation to make a 32-hour workweek standard, then reintroduced it last year.

This “great reassessment” of labor feels revolutionary. But we’ve been here before. In 1933 the Senate passed, and President Franklin D. Roosevelt supported, a bill to reduce the standard workweek to only 30 hours.  Read more.