Previous newsletters - Acquisition Research Program
Previous issues of ARP's Weekly Newsletter are archived here.
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July 31, 2020 Issue 18
Plenty of news in the education section this week, with more efforts from the Navy to improve graduate education, online learning tools on IT acquisition from GSA, and the proposal for a US Digital Service Academy to create needed technical expertise in the federal government. In our top story, Ellen Lord describes how the Trusted Capital Marketplace counters the threat of Chinese investment in critical American technologies. This week’s symposium panel showcases GAO reports on big weapon systems. And a fun discovery from the archives of ARP’s research repository: we happened upon a pair of student papers that explore the logistics of distributing vaccines within the defense community in the case of a pandemic. Written in 2007 and 2009, the papers were responding to the emergence of Avian influenza (H5N1) and Swine Influenza (H1N1), acknowledging the need to prepare for the inevitable pandemic in which we now live.
ARP Research: Symposium Spotlight
Panel #13: Lessons Learned in MDAP Reliability, Maintainability and Sustainment
KC-46 Tanker Modernization: Aircraft Delivery Has Begun, but Deficiencies Could Affect Operations and Will Take Time to Correct
Cheryl Andrew (GAO)
- Micro-abstract: This report assesses the program’s progress toward meeting cost, schedule, and performance goals. The report also assesses how the program’s contracting and sustainment planning approach could inform other acquisition programs. Read the Paper and Presentation.
F-35 Joint Strike Fighter - What Actions Are Needed to Improve Aircraft Reliability?
Desiree Cunningham (GAO), Justin Jaynes (GAO), Cheryl Andrew (GAO)
- Micro-abstract: The F-35 program office has estimated that implementing all of the identified improvement projects currently contained in its Reliability & Maintainability (R&M) improvement plan could result in potential life cycle cost savings of over $9.2 billion by improving the F-35’s R&M. Read the Presentation.
Defense Acquisitions: Senior Leaders Should Emphasize Key Practices to Improve Weapon System Reliability
Nathan Tranquilli (GAO)
- Micro-abstract: This report addresses (1) how selected companies in the commercial sector address reliability, (2) how selected DoD acquisition programs addressed reliability, and (3) the extent to which DoD leadership has highlighted key reliability practices. Read the Paper.
See more research in the full Proceedings of the 17th Annual Acquisition Research Symposium.
This Week’s Top Story
Trusted Capital Marketplace Protects DoD Supply Chain
Ellen Lord, National Defense Magazine
America’s open investment environment allows the world to invest in our country, promotes the exchange of ideas and grows a dynamic economy.
It also exposes us to economic threats by malign actors. Protecting the U.S. economy and its technological edge is a shared responsibility, requiring a whole-of-nation approach to thwart adversaries.
The Defense Department works intimately with executive-level government leadership, multiple interagency partners and the national security agencies to develop and implement impactful measures to protect critical assets, companies and the U.S. economy writ large.
Understanding our adversaries’ motives and tactics, and identifying U.S. companies’ vulnerabilities are key to comprehensively addressing supply chain threats and developing solutions to counter them. Foremost among U.S. adversaries’ investment targets are foundational, critical and emerging technologies with military or dual-use applications. Such technologies range from hypersonics and unmanned aerial systems to artificial intelligence and semiconductors. They are the lynchpins of the defense industrial base, the compromise of which would imperil national security.
The Defense Department’s office of industrial policy, within Acquisition and Sustainment, works to protect these and other critical assets through its Trusted Capital Marketplace, a funding ecosystem that offers ongoing opportunities for financial institutions and qualifying companies to explore mutually beneficial partnerships in support of national security goals.
NPS News
Open For Autonomous Business: Largest-Ever Unmanned & Robotics Systems Research Contract Awarded For NPS
Office of University Communications, Naval Postgraduate School
Business Warriors Wanted: NPS Announces New Low-Res Defense-Focused EMBA For High-Tempo Officers
Office of University Communications, Naval Postgraduate School
From the ARP Archives: Distribution of Vaccines During a Pandemic
Analysis of the Distribution of Vaccine Using Department of Defense Assets versus Contracts with Private-sector Delivery Companies (11 November 2009)
Capt. Jason E. Latta, USMC
Cold Chain Logistics: A Study of the Department of Defense OCONUS Pre-Pandemic Influenza Vaccine Distribution Network (16 October 2007)
LT Daniel “Travis” Jones, USN and LT Christopher “Craig” Tecmire, USN
Acquisition and Innovation
Pentagon planning for the next 25 years of cybersecurity
Billy Mitchell, FedScoop
Procurement Leadership: The OODA Loop for Agile Acquisition
Jamie Gracia, LinkedIn
CMMC board faces ‘passionate’ internal turmoil over new contract with DOD
Jackson Barnett, FedScoop
DHS seeks permanent flexible acquisition authorities
Mark Rockwell, FCW
DOD 'on schedule' for August JEDI announcement
Lauren C. Williams, FCW
Army Future Ops Depend On Cloud – But Not On JEDI
Sydney J. Freedberg Jr., Breaking Defense
Frictionless acquisition means changing hearts and minds, not necessarily processes
Jason Miller, Federal News Network
Air Force moves to enact space acquisition reforms, despite hold up of legislative proposals
Nathan Strout, C4ISRNET
Procurement Innovation Lab’s (PIL) Fiscal Year 2019 Yearbook: Coaching Innovation
Beta.sam.gov
Events (Upcoming)
USSOCOM AT&L Forecast: Virtual Industry Engagement Event
SOFWERX
11 August 2020
Joint Acquisition Solutions Summit
Defense Acquisition University
19-20 August 2020
OTAs & Everything Else, with Eric Lofgren and Benjamin McMartin
George Mason University Center for Government Contracting
11 August 2020, 1:00 p.m. ET
COVID-19 and Contracting
Rookie middlemen muddle the government’s effort to buy coronavirus supplies
Josh Salman, Nick Penzenstadler, and Dak Le, USA Today
Top Challenges Facing the General Services Administration: COVID-19 Emergency Response and Relief Efforts
Office of Inspector General, US GSA
Research
The Defense Industrial Base of the Future
Mikhail Grinberg, Center for a New American Security
Climate Resilience: Actions Needed to Ensure DOD Considers Climate Risks to Contractors as Part of Acquisition, Supply, and Risk Assessment
U.S. Government Accountability Office
State of the Space Industrial Base 2020: A Time for Action to Sustain US Economic and Military Leadership in Space
Brigadier General Steven J. Butow, Dr. Thomas Cooley, Colonel Eric Felt, Dr. Joel B. Mozer
Defense and Federal Government
Space Force Announces Significant Reorganization
Brian W. Everstine, Air Force Magazine
Navy Autonomy Lab Would Test, Integrate Software Advances to Bring More Capability to Unmanned Fleet
Megan Eckstein, USNI News
DARPA wants to find a better way to secure new code in legacy systems
Andrew Eversden, C4ISRNET
Nominee to lead Space Command voices support for declassifying space
Nathan Strout, C4ISRNET
The Office of Management and Budget: An Insider’s Guide
The White House Transition Project
What the “Defunding the Pentagon” Articles Don’t Tell You
Thomas Spoehr, Real Clear Defense
There’s a Bigger Threat Than Big Tech. It’s Big China
Emily de la Bruyere and Nathan Picarsic, Defense One
Policy
Information Collection; Rights in Data and Copyrights
Federal Register
Education
Navy Announces New Mid-Career Officer Graduate Education Opportunity
MC1 Mark D. Faram, OPNAV N7 Public Affairs
Proposed US Digital Service Academy Could Funnel Tech Talent to Government
Amanda Miller, Air Force Magazine
GSA Launches IT Acquisition University
U.S. General Services Administration
Congress
Senate GOP coronavirus bill includes $29.4B for Pentagon
Rebecca Kheel, The Hill
Inhofe moves to block FCC commissioner’s confirmation over Ligado fight
Aaron Mehta, C4ISRNET
House Democrats hammer the need for billion-dollar TMF injection
Billy Mitchell, FedScoop
Senate Democrats make case for adding $1B to Technology Modernization Fund
Jason Miller, Federal News Network
Senate hearing canceled for controversial Pentagon nominee Anthony Tata
Joe Gould, Defense News
Noteworthy in Issue #17: The National Defense Authorization Act has passed the House and the Senate. Next step: conferencing to reconcile remaining differences. In the appropriations arena, more conversations about limiting the defense budget, with a specific target on the Overseas Contingency Operations Funding. Here there’s a nice alignment with Abigail Zofchak's symposium paper on the Budget Control Act. A reminder of the new and evolving resource, the Adaptive Acquisition Framework, and a new feature spotlighting the innovative acquisition tool of Commercial Solutions Openings. Cheers, and keep us posted on your news!
ARP Research: Symposium Spotlight
Panel #12: Persistent Issues in Defense Management
Is the DoD a High-Risk Anomaly? An Analysis of the Government Accountability Office’s High-Risk List’s Persistent Residents
Danelle Gamble (Sanford School of Public Policy - Duke University), Douglas Brook (Duke University)
- Micro-abstract: This research is the first of two phases and compares the longest standing DoD high-risk programs to similar longstanding high-risk civilian federal programs to determine whether the DoD is a high-risk anomaly. Read the paper and presentation.
The Budget Control Act: Effects and Unintended Consequences for DoD
Abigail Zofchak (U.S. Air Force)
- Micro-abstract: To determine how much the BCA impacted the stability and predictability of the DoD’s budget, this project describes and compares the impact of the Budget Enforcement Act (BEA) and the BCA on the DoD’s defensewide budget over time in terms of year-to-year stability and longer-range planning and programming stability Read the paper and presentation.
Persistent Perspectives on Defense Management Reform
Douglas Brook (Duke University)
- Micro-abstract: This paper explores the types and sources of Defense management reform initiatives to understand better what constitutes Defense management, where management reforms originate, and what aspects of DoD management most attract reformers’ persistent attention. Read the paper and presentation.
See more research in the full Proceedings of the 17th Annual Acquisition Research Symposium.
This Week’s Top Story
The Adaptive Acquisition Framework
Stacy Cummings and Jim Woolsey, Defense Acquisition University
The Adaptive Acquisition Framework or AAF is a major advancement for modern defense acquisition. It is more than a policy update. It is policy re-envisioned and restructured in a framework that encourages critical thinking by program managers in selecting and tailoring the best-suited approach or pathway for a particular acquisition. It facilitates more rapid delivery to the point of need.
The AAF is a powerful tool the Defense Acquisition Workforce can use to ensure that the Warfighter has the systems and services they need. Given the ever-changing environment, made even more unstable by the COVID-19 pandemic, it is critical that Defense Acquisition Workforce members not only familiarize themselves with the AAF resources available to them—especially the interactive AAF website—but stay current and continuously seek out resources and opportunities to help improve acquisition.
Stacy Cummings—Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Acquisition Enablers for Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment Ellen Lord—spearheaded the AAF effort, and she will be the first to say it was a team effort. The Defense Acquisition University (DAU) was one of the organizations involved in the process—assisting in writing the policy with input from the military Services and developing an interactive AAF website. DAU also assisted in the rollout—conducting a series of roadshows with Ms. Cummings and other AAF subject-matter experts, engaging directly with the Defense Acquisition Workforce, and producing numerous AAF-oriented webcasts to inform Defense Acquisition Workforce members of the sweeping policy changes and the tools and resources available to them.
Recently, Ms. Cummings and DAU President Jim Woolsey met virtually to talk about the AAF rollout and what it means for the future of the AAF and defense acquisition. The following is an excerpt from their conversation. Read more.
NPS News
Virtual Secretary of the Navy Guest Lecture with VADM (Ret) Jan Tighe and General (Ret) Keith Alexander (video)
Recorded July 21, 2020
Acquisition and Innovation
US Army releases draft RFP for Bradley vehicle replacement
Aaron Mehta, Defense News
What’s industry role in DoD information warfare efforts?
Mark Pomerleau, C4ISRNET
Major Ramp-Up in Use of OTAs
Jon Harper, National Defense
DoD's $7 Billion Military Household Moves Contract Hit with Another Protest
Patricia Kime, Military.com
Pentagon Expects 7,500 Companies CMMC Certified by 2021
Mandy Mayfield, National Defense
Air Force crafts $1B cybersecurity contract for small businesses
Jackson Barnett, FedScoop
Events (Upcoming)
Fleet Focus: Agility Summit Seeks Creative Solutions to Naval Challenges
NPS, NWC and MCU student teams can learn about fleet issues and challenges, choose one to address and apply to compete at the Agility Summit. The closing date for student submissions and applications is July 31, and the final 10 teams will be chosen during the week of Aug. 7. Selected teams will receive funding to travel to the NavalX facility in Alexandria, Virginia. Students can also attend virtually.
AFWERX Fusion: Base of the Future Showcase
AFWERX, July 28-30, 2020
COVID-19 and Contracting
Memorandum: Additional Guidance on Federal Contracting Resiliency in the Fight Against the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-10)
Office of Management and Budget
Research
Increasing Value and Savings in Shipbuilding with Innovative Technologies
David N. Ford and Tom Housel, Defense Acquisition Research Journal
Studying Acquisition Strategy Formulation of Incremental Development Approaches
COL Robert F. Mortlock, USA (Ret.), Defense Acquisition Research Journal
Air Force Software Sustainment and Maintenance of Weapons Systems
The National Academies of Science, Engineering, Medicine
Defense and Federal Government
Huawei 5G dominance threatened in Southeast Asia
Kentaro Iwamoto, Nikkei Asian Review
It’s official: US Air Force to buy Turkish F-35s
Valerie Insinna, Defense News
US, China may ‘stumble’ into conflict in South China Sea, war game scenarios suggest
Eduardo Baptista, South China Morning Post
Lockheed Martin May Go Shopping if Defense Budgets Fall Next Year
John A. Tirpak, Air Force Magazine
US Navy to develop drone deployment strategy
David B. Larter, Defense News
Pentagon AI team sets sights on information warfare
Mark Pomerleau, C4ISRNET
Michael Kratsios, White House CTO, named to top Pentagon tech job
Aaron Mehta, Defense News
Russia Tests a Satellite That Rams Other Satellites, US Says
Patrick Tucker, Defense One
Policy
Memorandum: Buying for America
Office of Management and Budget
Memorandum: Department of Defense SmartPay 3 Government-wide Commercial Purchasing Card Oversight and Reporting – SP3 Transition Memorandum #12
Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment
Frictionless Acquisition (Cross Agency Priority) Action Plan and Progress Update
Performance.gov
Implementation of the Section 889(a)(1)(B) Prohibition on Contracting with Entities Using Certain Telecommunications and Video Surveillance Services or Equipment
Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment
Congress
House defense bill strips Confederate base names, curbs president’s powers in troop deployments
Leo Shane III and Joe Gould
The Top 5 REALLY Important NDAA Policies
Mackenzie Eaglen, Breaking Defense
Senate clears bill removing Confederate names from military bases, setting up clash with Trump
Connor O’Brien, Politico
Progressives Mount Assault on Defense Spending Ahead of Stimulus Package, Election
Marcus Weisgerber, Government Executive
OCO Must Go
Lauren Sander and Brandon Valeriano, Defense One
Two hearings set on controversial Pentagon policy nominee
Joe Gould, Defense News
Acquisition Tips and Tools, with Larry Asch
This week, we offer a collection of resources on Commercial Solutions Openings. The first article notes that CSOs may become permanent authorities. The second article gives more information about this useful tool in the contracting officer’s tool chest. The third link takes you to a video conversation with John Tenaglia and Victor Deal held in May 2017 discussing how they developed the idea, advanced it and received pilot authority in the FY17 NDAA.
CSOs are here to stay. What’s next in innovative acquisition?
Lauren Dailey, National Contract Management Association
The Senate Armed Services Committee’s FY21 National Defense Authorization Act markup includes several measures aimed at improving access to commercial and innovative technologies. One of them stood out to me: The committee would make permanent the use of Commercial Solutions Openings, or CSOs, to award FAR-based contracts. This is an incredibly important move as it is yet another tool that increases DoD’s ability to quickly access technologies and innovation from the commercial sector.
CSO's are a relatively new tool, and as such, some confusion exists around their use. Initially, the term CSO was only used to describe a mechanism to award Other Transaction Agreements (OTAs). In 2016, during my time at the Defense Innovation Unit Experimental (now simply DIU), I created their CSO to award OTAs on a fast, flexible, and collaborative basis, and create a rapid path to production for successful projects. Since the FY17 NDAA’s CSO pilot program, a CSO mechanism can also be used to award FAR-based contracts. This duality – the ability to award both FAR-based contracts and OTAs – can lead to some confusion when the term “CSO” is used. While it’s important for practitioners to clearly state what type of CSO they’re using (and what form of agreement or contract they’re awarding), what’s clear is that either CSO will allow them powerful access to commercial capabilities.
The potential permanence of CSOs for FAR-based contracts leads to another question: What’s next in the world of innovative acquisition?
What Commercial Solutions Openings Can Be…If We Dare
Victor Deal, Contract Management Magazine
Hot Topic - Contracting Innovation with Commercial Solutions Openings
Defense Acquisition University Video with John Tenaglia and Victor Deal
ARP Research: Symposium Spotlight
Panel #7: Informed Acquisition for an Era of Great Power Competition
Chinese Influence in Federal DoD Contracting Spend - Strategic Peril for United States?
E. Cory Yoder (Naval Postgraduate School)
- Micro-abstract: This paper highlights major shifts in Chinese policy directed at infiltrating U.S. defense industries through federal contracting and supply chain assimilation and infiltration, and the necessity to enact legislation and regulations to prevent it. Seven of the top 20 DoD spend recipient firms are Chinese. Totaling the amount of spend with Chinese firms from the 2018 data in the 2019 extraction yields more than $92 billion. Read the Paper and Presentation.
Beijing’s Innovation Strategy: Threat-informed Acquisition for an Era of Great Power Competition
Emily de La Bruyere (Horizon Advisory)
- Micro-abstract: Beijing’s strategic discourse and resource allocations focus on deploying rather than developing cutting-edge capabilities. Tailored to a world of network-defined interaction, this new paradigm is measured by scale and influence, not force and lethality. It de-emphasizes traditional tools and battlefields in favor of controlling networks, standards, and platforms. Read the Paper.
Panel #10: Lifecycle Impacts of the Emerging Digital Universe
Investigation of Leading Indicators for Systems Engineering Effectiveness in Model-Centric Programs
Donna Rhodes (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
- Micro-abstract: Acquisition programs increasingly use model-centric decision-making approaches, generating and using digital assets throughout the life cycle. The research investigates adaptation and extension of existing systems engineering leading indicators for model-centric programs and how program leaders can use these to proactively assess systems engineering effectiveness in model-centric programs. Read the Paper and Presentation.
See more research in the full Proceedings of the 17th Annual Acquisition Research Symposium.
This Week’s Top Story
DoD must modernize infrastructure to support cutting-edge technology research
JihFen Lei, Defense News
If you’re reading this over the internet, you’re using technology developed by the Department of Defense science and technology enterprise. For decades, the DoD has cultivated a wide-ranging ecosystem of technical professionals, research infrastructure and partnerships that has made vast contributions to U.S. national security and economic strength. From microchips to the GPS satellites that enabled a revolution in precision warfare, the department’s S&T enterprise has been central to creating the security and prosperity our nation enjoys today.
Although technology dominance has long been central to the American way of war, U.S. military superiority is increasingly under threat. American adversaries are making rapid technological advancements and incorporating them into newly modernized forces. In response, the department has been working to aggressively position its S&T enterprise to meet the security needs of the 21st century.
Long-term success will require concentration in three fundamental areas: First, we must invest for the future while focusing on the present. This requires investing in foundational research that will create the next generation of military superiority. Second, we must cultivate a workforce of scientists and engineers ready to solve the DoD’s hardest problems. Finally, we must create and maintain world-class defense laboratories and research facilities, enabling us to work with academic and industrial partners to quickly transition technology into capabilities. Each of these elements are critical to nurturing an innovation ecosystem optimized for the department’s needs.
The road to the next great scientific or technological advance starts with basic science and research. Basic research is central to the DoD’s long-term competitive strategy to create and maintain military superiority for the nation. The DoD has a long history of conducting and sponsoring basic research, focusing on understanding how and why things work at a fundamental scientific level.
Acquisition and Innovation
Army Next-Gen Combat Vehicle Chief Drives Digital Development Strategy
Loren Thompson, Forbes
Federal Industry Leaders 2019 (includes Key Contracting Trends and Market Driving Forces)
Bloomberg Government
Spare Us the F-35 Parts Mismanagement
Dan Grazier, Project on Government Oversight
Mitigating the Pitfalls of Technical Evaluations
Federal Acquisition Institute
Cancellation of Alliant 2 Small Business caps a rough few months for small firms
Jason Miller, Federal News Network
CMMC requirements show up in GSA’s STARS III contract
Jackson Barnett, Fedscoop
GSA challenges developers to speed up end-user license agreement reviews
Dave Nyczepir, Fedscoop
US government’s Huawei ban moving too fast, contractors say
Joe Gould, Defense News
Bath Iron Works lays off some workers during strike
The Associated Press, Defense News
Events (Upcoming)
Great Power Competition in the 21st Century Virtual Mini-series
UC Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation
July 21, July 28, and July 31
SITREP Speaker Series: Featuring James "Hondo" Geurts
United States Navy Memorial
July 14, 2020 3:00-4:00 pm ET
Digital Readiness Webcast Series (multiple dates)
Defense Acquisition University
Agility Prime Teamup Event (R&D opportunities funded by Small Business Technology Transfer contracts)
July 15 & 16, 2020
NavalX New Space Grand Opening Event (Alexandria, VA and online)
July 20-24, 2020
Call for Proposals
Naval Integration in Contested Environments (NICE) Advanced Naval Technology Exercise (ANTX)
NavalX
NGA looking to academia and industry to boost research efforts (Broad Agency Announcement, Boosting Innovative GEOINT – Research)
Nathan Strout, C4ISRNET
COVID-19 and Contracting
Pentagon issues guidance to contract officers to assess COVID-19 costs and impacts
Tony Bertuca, Inside Defense
House panel isn’t giving defense industry all the COVID aid it wants
Joe Gould, Defense News
Urgent Acquisition Effort Provides Safe COVID-19 Patient Transport in 95 Days
C. Todd Lopez, U.S. Department of Defense
Research
A Primer on US Civil–Military Relations for National Security Practitioners
Dr. Jessica D. Blankshain, Air University
Defense and Federal Government
Navy Publishes Leaders' Handbook for COVID Guidance
Office of the Navy Chief of Information
Harker takes over as acting Pentagon comptroller
Aaron Mehta, Defense News
FBI Opens a New China-Related Counterintelligence Investigation Every 10 Hours, Director Says
Frank Konkel, Nextgov
Britain may further limit Huawei in 5G, a win for Washington and blow to China
William Booth, The Washington Post
Centers of Excellence phase 2 gives HUD a digital transformation booster shot
Jason Miller, Federal News Network
OPM Should Take a Lesson From the Army
Howard Risher, Government Executive
Pentagon reform boss on eliminating entire office: ‘This is a guaranteed failure’
Aaron Mehta, Defense News
DIU wants to bring swarming drones to the DOD
Jackson Barnett, Fedscoop
Congress
HAC-D Approves $694.6 Billion FY ‘21 Defense Spending Bill By Voice Vote
Matthew Beinart, Defense Daily
House Appropriators Add 12 F-35s, Boost Weapons Spending, But…
Colin Clark, Breaking Defense
House Appropriations Bill Includes Funding for Second Virginia-Class Submarine
Megan Eckstein, USNI News
Congress Pumps The Brakes On Navy, Demands Answers From OSD
Paul McLeary, Breaking Defense
Measure Requiring Women to Register for Draft Left Out of House Defense Bill
Patricia Kime, Military.com
More lawmakers getting on IT modernization bandwagon as House prepares 10th FITARA scorecard
Jason Miller, Federal News Network
Higher ed leaders warn House committee of financial strain
J. Edward Moreno, The Hill
Policy Updates
Procure-to-Pay Standard Operating Procedures for Distributing Receipt Acceptance and Electronic Receipt and Processing of Requests for Payment (“Handshake” 5 & 6)
Defense Pricing and Contracting
July 3, 2020
Noteworthy in Issue #15: The House Armed Services Committee finished its marathon NDAA markup remarkably early on Wednesday (before midnight) and voted to name the bill the “William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021.” Thanks for all the reform legislation, Mac! We’ve updated our tracker of Section 809 Panel recommendations as reflected in the latest versions of these committee bills, finding at least 9 recommendations have landed so far. And we continue to bring you more research from the Acquisition Research Program, with the next video in our student research series and the next panel from this year’s Acquisition Research Symposium.
It’s a holiday weekend, when we celebrate the day colonists published the Declaration of Independence to explain why they were fighting for freedom from British rule. Reading this founding document is a great way to celebrate.
ARP Research: Symposium Spotlight
Panel #6: Unmanned Vehicles in a Model Based Systems Engineering Universe
Evaluating Current Systems Engineering Models for Applicability to Model-Based Systems Engineering Technical Reviews
Ronald Carlson (Naval Postgraduate School), Warren Vaneman (Naval Postgraduate School)
- Micro-abstract: Current technical reviews are based around lengthy evaluations of static, contractually obligated documents. Using data-driven model-based systems engineering technical reviews instead will provide greater insights with faster comprehension for the details across a program’s life cycle. Read the Paper and Presentation.
Architecture-Based Security for UxVs
Valdis Berzins (Naval Postgraduate School)
- Micro-abstract: Navy acquisition has applied Open Systems Architecture principles to improve affordability of system development, test, evaluation, and upgrade. This paper explores extension of such principles to improve security of unmanned systems within affordable costs. Read the Paper and Presentation.
The Lightly Manned Autonomous Combat Capability (LMACC)
Johnathan Mun (Naval Postgraduate School), Shelley Gallup (Naval Postgraduate School)
- Micro-abstract: The new vessel, called Sea Fighter, would have a crew of 15 and have a single combat mission: to deliver long-range precision weapons and distribute secondary combat functions among the pack of Sea Fighters and Sea Hunters. An analysis of total ship costs is applied in a simulation and comparison to other vessels. Read the Paper and Presentation.
See more research in the full Proceedings of the 17th Annual Acquisition Research Symposium.
This Week’s Top Story
The Navy Needs a Course Correction: Prototyping with Purpose
Senators Jim Inhofe and Jack Reed, USNI Proceedings
As leaders in the Pentagon, Capitol Hill, and industry come to grips with great power competition with China and Russia, we all agree: We must accelerate innovative research and development, acquire new capabilities faster, and transform the way the U.S. military fights if it is to prevail. This is hardly the first time U.S. national security leaders have felt a sense of urgency and attempted to do so.
Unfortunately, results have been mixed at best, with absurd acquisition debacles that have set back the country tens of billions of dollars and delayed necessary weapon systems for years. While examples abound in each military service, we are particularly concerned with Navy shipbuilding. We believe there is a better way to develop new first-of-class ships.
As the Government Accountability Office (GAO) has documented, lead ships in new classes of naval vessels routinely fail to meet expectations. For the eight most recently delivered lead combatant ships—the USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78), Zumwalt (DDG-1000), Freedom (LCS-1), Independence (LCS-2), America (LHA-6), San Antonio (LPD-17), Virginia (SSN-774), and Texas (SSN-775)—the GAO found that a total of $8 billion more than the initial cost estimate was required to construct these ships, each lead ship experienced cost growth of at least 10 percent, and three lead ships exceeded their initial budgets by 80 percent or more. Further, each lead ship was delivered to the fleet at least six months late—five were more than two years late—and most lead ships had dozens of uncorrected deficiencies when the Navy accepted them.
GAO experts have continually noted a key step in successful shipbuilding programs is technology development—the maturation of key technologies into subsystem prototypes and demonstration of those subsystem prototypes in a realistic environment prior to the detailed design of the lead ship. This type of technology maturation was not performed effectively, or at all, on the CVN-78, DDG-1000, LCS-1, LCS-2, and LPD-17 programs.
… As an alternative approach, we believe these four principles should guide lead-ship development:
- Department of Defense (DoD) and Navy leaders should lead on defining the future force architecture and, just as important, personally sign off on realistic system- and subsystem-level plans.
- New critical subsystems should be proven before building a full-scale platform.
- Contracting for a full-scale platform prototype should occur only after all critical subsystems have been proven and should focus on system integration.
- The objective of subsystem and full-scale platform prototyping is to close the government’s technical knowledge gaps.
News from the Acquisition Research Program at Naval Postgraduate School
LCDR Rudy Mason presents his team's thesis research on how to expand the nation's shipbuilding capabilities to fulfill the Navy’s 30-year, 355-ship goal.
The U.S. Navy Is Making Plans to Replace the F-35 Stealth Fighter
Kris Osborn, The National Interest
Note that this article mentions an ARP-supported thesis:
… This challenge, explored by a Naval Postgraduate School essay called “The 6th-Generation Quandry,” poses the question as to whether it might be equally if not more effective to postpone formal sixth-generation development until truly breakthrough advances emerge, while pursuing advanced variants of current, yet upgradable platforms in the interim. The 2016 paper, from the Naval Postgraduate School Acquisition Research Program, cites a handful of current systems showing significant long-term promise. The paper cites “new models of the F-35 optimized for air combat,” the emerging B-21, drone-launching C-130 “mother ships” and “weapons truck arsenal planes” are positioned to optimize current technological progress.
Acquisition and Innovation
Here’s how the Space Force will be organized
Valerie Insinna, Defense News
Use of military contractors shrouds true costs of war. Washington wants it that way, study says.
Alex Horton and Aaron Gregg, The Washington Post
Risk Aversion Impedes Hypersonics Development
Staff Sgt. Todd C. Lopez, DoD News
GSA still must answer supply chain risk questions with e-commerce platforms
Jason Miller, Federal News Network
How the Navy beat its own timeline for its largest cloud migration
Jackson Barnett, Fedscoop
DoD withdraws Defense Production Act small launch contract awards
Sandra Erwin, Space News
A Synopsis of Preaward Reviews of VA Federal Supply Schedule Pharmaceutical Proposals Issued in Fiscal Year 2019
Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General
Alliant 2 Small Business (A2SB) Governmentwide Acquisition Contract (GWAC) cancelled
Beta.sam.gov
Events (Upcoming)
Is Great Power Competition a Constructive Framework for Formulating U.S. Policies in sub-Saharan Africa?
Center for Strategic and International Studies
Tuesday, July 7, 2020 9:00 am - 10:00 am
Decoding the DoD Innovation Alphabet
Defense Innovation Unit (DIU), in collaboration with National Security Innovation Network (NSIN), the Defense Innovation Board (DIB), AFWERX, Army Applications Lab (AAL), and NavalX.
July 9, 2020 3:00-4:00pm ET
Research
Acquiring Space Capabilities with Agility and Discipline at the Speed of Relevance
National Security Space Association Studies & Analysis Center
Party on the Bridge: Political Commissars in the Chinese Navy
Jeff Benson and Yi Zang, Center for Strategic & International Studies
Defense and Federal Government
Navy ‘Education for Seapower’ Program Under Review by New SECNAV
Sam LaGrone, USNI News
DoD Spotlight: Protecting America's Global Positioning System
U.S. Department of Defense
Why Data Governance is Critical to a Successful JCF
The Joint Artificial Intelligence Center
US Navy’s first 4 littoral combat ships to leave the fleet in 9 months
David B. Larter, Defense News
FCC bars Huawei and ZTE from subsidies, citing national security
Margaret Harding McGill, Axios
Marine Corps creates first ‘Network Battalion’ for cyberdefense and modernization
Jackson Barnett, Fedscoop
Audit of Governance and Protection of Department of Defense Artificial Intelligence Data and Technology
Department of Defense Inspector General
Turkey to Keep Making F-35 Parts Through 2022, Pentagon Says
Anthony Capaccio, Bloomberg
US could buy Turkey’s Russian-made S-400 under Senate proposal
Joe Gould, Defense News
The Navy aims to install cyber baselines aboard 180 ships
Andrew Eversden, C4ISRNET
Upgradeable Birds: AF Taps Hypergiant For ‘Reconfigurable’ Satellites
Theresa Hitchens, Breaking Defense
Congress
House panel approves $740.5B defense policy bill
Rebecca Kheel, The Hill
Thornberry talks acquisition reform in 2021 NDAA
Lauren C. Williams, FCW
Pentagon’s chief reform job would be scrapped under House plan
Joe Gould, Defense News
Ligado would be banned from DoD contracts under House plan
Joe Gould, C4ISRNET
Proposals would make extremist activity a military crime, create DOD oversight office for racial issues
Leo Shane III, Military Times
HASC amendments question space acquisition reforms, challenge DoD plans to procure new systems
Sandra Erwin, Space News
Congress Inches Closer to Creating a National Cloud for AI Research
Brandi Vincent, Nextgov
Senators Introduce Deepfake-Focused Amendment to Defense Authorization Act
Brandi Vincent, Nextgov
HASC Wants To Stop Year-End Spending Sprees
Sydney J. Freedberg Jr., Breaking Defense
Full Committee Hearing: “Department of Defense Authorities and Roles Related to Civilian Law Enforcement” (Thursday, July 9, 2020)
Witnesses: The Honorable Dr. Mark T. Esper, Secretary of Defense and General Mark A. Milley, Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff
House Armed Services Committee
Section 809 Panel Updates
We are watching the NDAA process closely, with an eye for acquisition reforms related to recommendations from the Section 809 Panel. So far, we see several areas influenced by at least 8 panel recommendations.
- References panel recommendation #43: Revise acquisition regulations to enable more flexible and effective procurement of consumption-based solutions.
Section 827—Report on Transfer and Consolidation of Certain Defense Acquisition Statutes (H.R. 6395)
- Continues implementation of panel recommendation #90: Reorganize Title 10 of the U.S. Code to Place All of the Acquisition Provisions in a Single Part, and Update and Move Acquisition-related Note Sections into the Reorganized Acquisition Part of Title 10
Three sections of H.R. 6395 address the need for a more comprehensive planning for weapon system sustainment, showing influence from two panel recommendations.
- Sec. 333 —Independent Advisory Panel on Weapon System Sustainment (H.R. 6395)
- Sec 817—Sustainment Reform for the Department of Defense (H.R. 6395)
- Sec. 904—Establishment of Deputy Assistant Secretaries for Sustainment (H.R. 6395)
- Recommendation #41: Establish a sustainment program baseline, implement key enablers of sustainment, elevate sustainment to equal standing with development and procurement, and improve the defense materiel enterprise focus on weapon system readiness.
- Recommendation #42: Reduce budgetary uncertainty, increase funding flexibility, and enhance the ability to effectively execute sustainment plans and address emergent sustainment requirements.
- References panel recommendation #72: Replace 18 system criteria from DFARS 252.242-7006, Accounting System Administration, with an internal control audit to assess the adequacy of contractors’ accounting systems based on seven system criteria.
Sec. 803—Contractor Business Systems (H.R. 6395) and Sec. 845—Definition of Business System Deficiencies for Contractor Business Systems (S. 4049)
- Implements part of panel recommendation #10: Replace system criteria from DFARS 252.242-7006, Accounting System Administration, with an internal control audit to assess the adequacy of contractors’ accounting systems.
Sec. 826—Assessment of the Requirements Processes of the Military Departments (H.R. 6395)
- Similar to panel recommendation #39: Leverage a portfolio structure for requirements.
Sec. 10__. Temporary Authority to Extend Unobligated Operations and Maintenance Funds (Amendment to H.R. 6395 offered by Mr. Thornberry of Texas)
- Similar to panel recommendation #49: Provide increased flexibility to the time periods within which contract obligations are permitted to occur.
This amendment discussed in the article: HASC Wants To Stop Year-End Spending Sprees
Sydney J. Freedberg Jr., Breaking Defense
Selected highlights from the article: Because Operations & Maintenance is over 40 percent of the Pentagon budget, the requirement to obligate every penny of it before Oct. 1 distorts decision-making over billions of dollars, year after year, and one of Congress’s most respected defense reformers has decided to take it on as a last hurrah before retiring. […] Thornberry introduced an amendment this morning to allow DoD to keep 50 percent of unobligated O&M past 1 October – and then immediately withdrew it. […] “The Section 809 panel referenced this issue in their final report, Volume 3, which may well be what Smith and Thornberry are responding to,” said Andrew Hunter.
June 26, 2020
Noteworthy in Issue #14: It’s NDAA season, folks! The Senate Armed Services Committee markup of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 came out this week, as did the summary of the House Armed Services Committee markup. We provide summaries, bill language, and a collection of articles on some key aspects of these bills. DoD leadership is seeing some summer turnover, including the Navy’s inaugural chief learning officer. And in news from the Acquisition Research Program, we bring the next video in our student research series and two more panels from this year’s Acquisition Research Symposium.
ARP Research: Symposium Spotlight
Panel #9: Artificial Intelligence and the Cloud
Acquiring Artificial Intelligence Systems: Development Challenges, Implementation Risks, and Cost/Benefits Opportunities
Johnathan Mun (Naval Postgraduate School), Thomas Housel (Naval Postgraduate School)
- Micro-abstract: This research identifies, reviews, and proposes advanced quantitative, analytically based methods within the integrated risk management (IRM) and knowledge value added (KVA) methodologies to complement the current EVM approach for artificial intelligence system acquisitions. Read the paper and presentation.
Panel #4: Enabling Rapid Acquisition
Cycle Times and Cycles of Acquisition Reform
Morgan Dwyer (CSIS), Alec Blivas (CSIS), Andrew Hunter (CSIS), Brenen Tidwell (CSIS)
- Micro-abstract: This paper assesses the relationship between cycles of acquisition reform and cycle-times (i.e., the time to field new capabilities). Read the paper and presentation.
Faster Acquisition: Putting the Priority on Speed
David Riel (Defense Acquisition University)
- Micro-abstract: This paper addresses the perception of the acquisition workforce on the priority of speed within the PM “iron triangle” of cost, performance, and schedule. Read the paper.
See more research in the full Proceedings of the 17th Annual Acquisition Research Symposium.
This Week’s Top Story
US Navy’s chief learning officer announces departure as Pentagon exodus continues
David B. Larter, Defense News
The flood of departing defense officials continues as the U.S. Navy’s chief learning officer — a newly created position championed by former Navy Secretary Richard Spencer and acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly — announced he is leaving his post this summer to take positions at a think tank and a venture capital firm.
John Kroger took to LinkedIn this week to announce his departure, eight months after taking the job in September.
“I will be leaving the Department of the Navy and my civil service position as the Chief Learning Officer later this summer,” Kroger wrote. “It has been a great honor to serve as the first joint Navy-Marine Corps CLO and wish all of my colleagues the very best.”
A Navy statement provided to Defense News said the service planned to replace the CLO.
News from the Acquisition Research Program at Naval Postgraduate School
Student Research: Husbanding Service Providers: Single Award vs. Multiple Award Contracts (video)
NPS student Jesse Kiengsiri discusses his team's research completed with ARP support to determine if there is a statistically significant difference in price for U.S. Navy husbanding port services when using MAC and SAC contracting strategies.
Acquisition and Innovation
The DOD wants better cybersecurity for its contractors. The first steps haven’t been easy.
Jackson Barnett, FedScoop
DHS exploring 5 additional blockchain use cases
Dave Nyczepir, FedScoop
In 2020, VA CIO finally received oversight over all IT spending despite 2015 law requiring it
Jason Miller, Federal News Network
NSWC Crane and NIWC Atlantic seek latest technology for ANTX 2021 military demonstration
Sarah K. Miller, NAVSEA
Software development in the Army gets an Agile reboot
Paul McKellips, U.S. Army
GenDyn inks $9.5B deal for first 2 Columbia-class subs
Christen McCurdy, UPI
Production workers strike against major US Navy shipbuilder
David Sharp, The Associated Press
Events (Upcoming and Recent Recordings)
“Leadership from the Battlefield to the Boardroom:” Virtual Secretary of the Navy Guest Lecture with Admiral William H. McRaven
Naval Postgraduate School, June 23, 2020
Aerospace Nation: A conversation with Gen Jeffery Harrigian, Commander, U.S. Air Forces in Europe, U.S. Air Forces in Africa and Allied Command, Director of Joint Air Power Competence Center in Kalkar, Germany
The Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies
June 29, 2020
Russia's Military Posture in the Arctic
Center for Strategic & International Studies
June 30, 2020 9:00 am - 9:45 am ET
Main Street Defense Series - Bringing Innovation and Adaptability to the Fight with General Atomics’ David Alexander
Center for Strategic & International Studies
July 1, 2020 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm ET
Think Gov 2020
IBM and Fedscoop
July 1, 2020 11:00 am -3:00 pm ET
Defense and Federal Government
Global Futures Report: Alternative Futures of Geopolitical Competition in a Post-COVID-19 World. A Collaborative Analysis with Foresight Practitioners and Experts
Air Force Warfighting Integration Capability (AFWIC) Strategic Foresight and Futures Branch
Pentagon Leaders Have Taken Lead in Crafting Future Fleet from Navy
Megan Eckstein, USNI News
Pentagon’s top tech experts, Griffin and Porter, resign
Aaron Mehta and Joe Gould, Defense News
The government’s top IT leader is leaving government in July.
Aaron Boyd, Nextgov
Galinis Takes Helm as NAVSEA Commander
U.S. Navy
Changes in Tech, Strategy Drive Missile Defense
U.S. Department of Defense
COVID-19 and Contracting
DOD Partners With DFC to Protect Industrial Base From Economic Effect of Pandemic
U. S. Department of Defense
HHS changed its business model in building the White House coronavirus system
Dave Nyczepir, FedScoop
Nearly all defense companies have reopened from COVID-19
Aaron Mehta, Defense News
Policy Update
Standard Operating Procedure for Records Retention and Destruction in the Procurement Integrated Enterprise Environment
Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment
Congress
House committee targets Lockheed in probe of F-35 parts problems
Joe Gould and Valeri Insinna, Defense News
Special Coverage of the National Defense Authorization Act: SASC
Executive Summary of the Fiscal Year 2021 National Defense Authorization Act
Senate Armed Services Committee
Senate Defense bill would eliminate DoD’s chief management officer
Jared Serbu, Federal News Network
SASC Trims Hypersonics & Robot Ships, Boosts Ships & F-35
Sydney J. Freedberg Jr., Breaking Defense
Senate moves to eliminate Pentagon’s chief management officer role
Aaron Mehta, Defense News
Congress aims to strip funding for the US Navy’s next-gen large surface combatant
David B. Larter, Defense News
Special Coverage of the National Defense Authorization Act: HASC
Summary of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021
House Armed Services Committee
House panel's top Republican backs Democrats' defense bill
Tony Bertuca, Inside Defense
Four ways the House wants military IT to improve
Andrew Eversden, C4ISRNET
Congress has questions about the Air Force’s and Navy’s next-generation fighter programs
Valerie Insinna, Defense News
House bill would elevate Pentagon’s AI hub to the deputy secretary level
Andrew Eversden, C4ISRNET
HASC Floats Modest Modernization, New Sustainment Jobs
Rachel S. Cohen, Air Force Magazine
Smith reveals $3.6B plan to counter China
Joe Gould, Defense News
Key Solarium recommendations find a home in the defense bill
Derek B. Johnson, FCW
June 19, 2020
ARP Research: Symposium Spotlight
Panel #3: Initiatives in Contract Management
Overseas Contingency Operations Contracts After Iraq: Enabling Financial Management Research and Transparency Through Contract Labeling
Gregory Sanders (Center for Strategic and International Studies)
- Micro-abstract: Governmental efforts to improve transparency and oversight regarding crisis contract awards have been admirable, but they are limited in their ability to maintain and proliferate lessons learned. This project addresses that problem by creating a crisis-funded contract dataset to test best practices across different domains and enhance data transparency for future practitioners and researchers. Read the paper and presentation.
Uncovering Value in Knowledge-based Services: Monetizing Latent Service Quality Indicators for Source Selection
Daniel Finkenstadt (Marketing Department KFBS)
- Micro-abstract: The research provides a way to monetize the trade-off between price and quality using a perceived service quality scale for KBS and a choice-based conjoint methodology in a Department of Defense setting. Read the paper and presentation.
A Game Theory Approach and Application for Government Acquisition
Kelly Horinek (MITRE), Scott Rosen (MITRE)
- Micro-abstract: This paper considers the application of game theory to the federal acquisition process to facilitate negotiation strategies and proposes an automated framework and interface for applying game theory to bid negotiation in acquisition. Read the paper.
See more research in the full Proceedings of the 17th Annual Acquisition Research Symposium.
This Week’s Top Story
Navy's New Deputy Chief of Naval Operations on CNO Staff Leading Work on Strategy, Education, Warfighting Development
OPNAV N7 Public Affairs
The Navy published this week the formal announcement of a change to the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations (OPNAV). The change, published by Director of Navy Staff (DNS) Andrew Haeuptle, provides for a new 3-star-led organization, currently under the leadership of Vice Adm. Stuart B. Munsch, whose focus is to develop and ensure the Navy’s future warfighting advantage against potential adversaries.
Named the Deputy Chief of Naval Operations (DCNO) for Warfighting Development, or OPNAV N7, Munsch leads a directorate of four divisions that pursue lines of effort focused on Navy strategy; organizational learning and analysis of lessons learned from wargames, exercises, experiments, tests, and studies; education policy and the development of warrior-scholars; strategic force-development planning; and alignment of efforts across headquarters, the Navy, government, and industry to solve key operational problems.
“The integration between how we fight and how we learn cannot be underestimated in today’s strategic environment,” said ADM Mike Gilday, Chief of Naval Operations. “The new N7 organization is improving the way we develop and deliver the Navy’s warfighting advantage to our nation. I have no doubt that it will strengthen our collective military power to out-think and out-fight any adversary.”
News from the Acquisition Research Program at Naval Postgraduate School
Bravo Zulu! Jim Greene Retires as Chair of the Acquisition Research Program
On June 3, the Acquisition Research Program hosted an online retirement party for Rear Admiral (Ret.) James B. Greene, the program’s founding chair. After 17 years of service, Greene retired on June 6, 2020. He will continue to volunteer with the program, lending expertise to the current staff and the new chair of acquisition in the fall. Read more.
NPS student Dave Couchman discusses his team's capstone research project completed with ARP support. The team used a disciplined, data-driven approach to analyze the effect that political connections have on possible excessive profits of DoD contractors.
Acquisition and Innovation
Army releases $1B cyber training request
Mark Pomerleau, Fifth Domain
Cost Estimates Questioned for New Navy Frigate
Jon Harper, National Defense Magazine
Navy’s $7.7B IT Services Contract Clears Three Protests
Aaron Boyd, Nextgov
British MoD shortlists four vendor teams for its multibillion-dollar Skynet satellite program
Andrew Chuter, Defense News
A weapon system ‘raises its hand’ if available under DARPA program
Andrew Eversden, C4ISRNET
GSA procurement modernization continues with point-of-sale task order award
Dave Nyczepir, FedScoop
DOD plans new JEDI amendment
Adam Mazmanian, FCW
DOD wants to overhaul its software development by 2025
Lauren C. Williams, FCW
Events (Recent Recordings)
Defense One Tech Summit: R&D to the Front Lines
U.S. Department of Defense. Recorded June 16, 2020
Defense and Federal Government
Department of Defense Releases Defense Space Strategy
U.S. Department of Defense
Pentagon names new chief data officer
Andrew Eversden, C4ISRNET
In War, Chinese Shipyards Could Outpace US in Replacing Losses; Marine Commandant
Paul McLeary, Breaking Defense
Turkey Now Has Swarming Suicide Drones It Could Export
Joseph Trevithick, The War Zone
DoD ‘Agile’ Software Development Still Too Slow: GAO
Sydney J. Freedberg Jr., Breaking Defense
Marines Considering Adding Land-Based Hypersonic Weapons to Arsenal
Megan Eckstein, USNI News
Fifty-four scientists have lost their jobs as a result of NIH probe into foreign ties
Jeffrey Mervis, Science Magazine
China delays launch to complete GPS-like Beidou network
The Associated Press, C4ISRNET
Here’s what to expect from the Army’s new electronic warfare effort
Mark Pomerleau, C4ISRNET
COVID-19 and Contracting
COVID-19 Response—Contract Data Update
Jerry McGinn and Eric Lofgren, George Mason University Center for Government Contracting
Will US foreign military sales catch the coronavirus?
Joe Gould, Defense News
Pentagon IG offers advice for effective contracting during pandemic
Jared Serbu, Federal News Network
Space Force invokes Defense Production Act to prop up small launch market
Nathan Strout, C4ISRNET
Policy Update
DoD Enterprise DevSecOps Reference Design (August 2019)
Department of Defense (DoD) Chief Information Officer
Commentary
Spending Smart or Spending Big: The Value of Systematic Assessments of Weapons Procurement
Peter A. Wilson and John V. Parachini, RAND Corporation
The narrowing of the defense-industrial base has reached critical levels
Steven P. Bucci, Defense News
Look at Great Power Competition Through a Special Operations Lens
Kevin Bilms and Christopher P. Costa, Defense One
Congress
DoD reports would be public under new amendment to must-pass defense bill
Joe Gould, Defense News
Inhofe to introduce new legislation that could cost Ligado
Aaron Mehta and Joe Gould, C4ISRNET
June 12, 2020
Noteworthy in Issue #12: The Senate Armed Services Committee has completed its markup of the FY2021 National Defense Authorization Act. We include the executive summary of that bill as well as many articles summarizing key details. Special Operations Command admits that acquisition needs to be reorganized around digital capabilities, or as James Smith puts it “things that are software defined and hardware enabled,” rather than vice versa. And we congratulate the Graduate School of Defense Management at NPS for its renewed accreditation with the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business. Enjoy, and keep letting us know if you have work we can highlight in future issues.
ARP Research: Symposium Spotlight
Panel #8: Acquisition Education: Changing Perspectives and Techniques
Learning from Experience: Acquisition Professional Education for this Century
Charles K Pickar (Naval Postgraduate School)
- Micro-abstract: This paper suggests three themes to consider as we look to improving weapons systems development and acquisition workforce development: the project manager and leadership team, experiential learning, and wargaming in in the learning environment. Read the paper.
PEO AICS and PAINS, DAU’s Senior Dynamic Cross-Functional Multi-Program Leadership Simulation
John Driessnack (Defense Systems Management College), Patrick Barker (DSMC/DAU)
- Micro-abstract: In support of Mission Assist efforts with several major acquisition programs, the Defense Systems Management College (DSMC) developed a simulation emulating a fictional portfolio of multiprogram schema within a program executive officer (PEO) organizational structure. Read the paper.
Assessing the Relationship of Training, Education, and Experience to Workforce Readiness and Program Performance
Raymond Jones (Naval Postgraduate School), Kevin Carman (Defense Acquisition University - West)
- Micro-abstract: A lifelong learning model that emphasizes complementary training and education at the right time may be more effective for the high performing acquisition workforce member! Read the presentation.
See more research in the full Proceedings of the 17th Annual Acquisition Research Symposium: https://event.nps.edu/conf/app/researchsymposium/home#!/page/148
This Week’s Top Story
Special Operations Command is reorganizing to focus on software and AI
Andrew Eversden and Nathan Strout, C4ISR Net
Special Operations Command has formally created a new program executive office that is dedicated to software June 1. The command’s head of acquisitions said the organization is reorganizing as it shifts its focus to software-defined systems and artificial intelligence.
“I have made the decision to reorganize SOF (Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics) slightly in respect to the National Defense Strategy,” said James Smith, the command’s acquisition executive. “The first thing we did was decide to stand up a PEO for SOF Digital Applications.”
Smith acknowledged the decision was made in response to shortcomings when it comes to developing artificial intelligence and machine learning for Special Forces applications.
“The idea that the SOF acquisition force sucks when it comes to artificial intelligence and machine learning--okay, guilty … this is our major effort to get better, to build competency,” said Smith. “I am looking to this PEO to start to lead us and lead the Department of Defense in excellence in acquisition of software to include artificial intelligence and machine learning.”
The new PEO represents a shift for the command as it looks to embrace a more software-forward approach. “Everything I’ve asked you for over the last decade has been hardware defined and then software enabled,” Smith told members of industry. “We really need to move to a relationship where I’m asking you for things that are software defined and hardware enabled.”
NPS and ARP News
Graduate School of Defense Management at Naval Postgraduate School Earns Extended Accreditation from the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business
Acquisition Research Program at Naval Postgraduate School
The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) awarded five more years of accreditation to the Graduate School of Defense Management (GSDM) at Naval Postgraduate School. In doing so, the AACSB recognizes the GSDM’s commitment to quality graduate education that continuously adapts to meet the needs of military professionals. The peer review team and the Continuous Improvement Review Committee identified 11 specific commendations and best practices that demonstrate leadership and continuous improvement in management education.
Among the 11 initiatives identified in AACSB’s letter are several efforts supported by the Acquisition Research Program. The program closely supports dozens of student thesis projects each year, which the AACSB lauded as “clearly linked to the Navy, Department of Defense, or program sponsors’ activities” and as “highly relevant to the future careers of students in national defense.” ARP also hosts the Annual Acquisition Research Symposium, which AACSB highlights as providing “leadership and impact to the profession in the acquisitions and federal contracting area.”
Acquisition and Innovation
Classification of FFRDCs Now Classified as Spend Under Management (SUM) Tier
GSA Acquisition Gateway
2020 federal contract spending on track to top last year
Tom Temin and Larry Allen, Federal News Network
GAO: Navy Needs More Risk Awareness to Prevent Cost, Schedule Overruns
Ben Werner, USNI News
TRANSCOM pulls back $7 billion contract to privatize military household goods moves
Karen Jowers, Military Times
Roper Pushes Moving Project Maven To Air Force
Theresa Hitchens, Breaking Defense
GSA awards $7.5M contract-writing system pilot as procurement modernization continues
Dave Nyczepir, FedScoop
DOD, GSA to Rethink $8B DEOS Cloud Contract—Again
Frank Konkel, Nextgov
Next-Gen Air Dominance Acquisition Plan Coming Soon
John A. Tirpak, Air Force Magazine
Events (Upcoming and Recent Recordings)
Storytelling & Wargame Design with Maurice Suckling
Georgetown University Wargaming Society, July 8, 2020
“Leadership from the Battlefield to the Boardroom:” Virtual Secretary of the Navy Guest Lecture with Admiral William H. McRaven
Naval Postgraduate School, June 23, 2020
Research and Higher Education
Navy Higher Education Developing COVID-19 Mitigation Plans For Fall
Ben Werner, USNI News
Defense and Federal Government
Coronavirus Resource: How Your Agency Is Reopening
Federal News Network
FedRAMP kicks off fourth new initiative thanks to 2019 Ideation Challenge
Jason Miller, Federal News Network
Four areas SOCOM’s chief information officer wants to modernize
Andrew Eversden, C4ISRNET
Investigation finds interagency group lacked authority to oversee Chinese telecom companies
Jason Miller, Federal News Network
The Pentagon Can’t Afford All of the Weapons It Wants, New Report Says
Marcus Weisgerber, Defense One
Army Study Asks: How Much Modernization Can We Afford?
Sydney J. Freedberg Jr., Breaking Defense
GAO Chides DoD For Absence Of Cybersecurity Requirements
Theresa Hitchens, Breaking Defense
Soldiers are finally getting a robot mule that can haul 1,000 pounds of gear
Jared Keller, Task and Purpose
Special Operations Command wants to upgrade its data analytics platform
Andrew Eversden, C4ISRNET
Policy and Regulatory Update
Future of the Federal IT Workforce Update
Federal CIO Council
COVID-19 and Contracting
Defense industry aid in limbo as new COVID package drags
Joe Gould, Defense News
Defense industry’s COVID costs could tank DoD modernization plans
Joe Gould, Defense News
Full Committee Hearing: “Department of Defense COVID-19 Response to Defense Industrial Base Challenges” – Testimony from the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment, Ellen Lord (video)
House Armed Services Committee
Pentagon announces $135M in deals under Defense Production Act
J. Edward Moreno, The Hill
Congress
SASC Complete Markup of Fiscal Year 2021 National Defense Authorization Act
Senate Committee on Armed Services
Executive Summary: Fiscal Year 2021 National Defense Authorization Act
Senate Armed Services Committee
Senate Confirms Brown to Lead Air Force in Historic Vote
Rachel S. Cohen, Air Force Magazine
Senate panel OKs $6 billion military fund to confront China
Joe Gould, Defense News
Defense bill turns into proxy battle over Floyd protests
Rebecca Kheel, The Hill
Defense bill to include billion dollars for pandemic response and preparedness
Joe Gould, Defense News
Senate’s defense bill looks to pump money into shipbuilding suppliers
David B. Larter and Joe Gould, Defense News
June 5, 2020
ARP Research: Symposium Spotlight
Panel #2: Ship Building Acquisition and Sustainment
Technology Insertion OODA Loop Strategy for future Flexible Surface Warship Acquisition and Sustainment
Michael Good (DELTA Resources, Inc), Glen Sturtevant (PEO Ships)
- Micro-abstract: In the same way that Colonel John Boyd, USAF, developed and applied the concept of an OODA Loop (a decision cycle of observe, orient, decide, and act) to combat operations, a construct for a Navy Warship Acquisition OODA Loop can provide a model of individual and organizational learning and adaptation. Read the paper.
Decisions Made During Acquisition Have Lasting Effects on Navy Ship Sustainment
Diana Moldafsky (GAO), Larri Fish (Government Accountability Office)
- Micro-abstract: The GAO found that shipbuilding programs’ requirements for sustainment reflect weaknesses with how DoD policy defines these requirements for ships. Sustainment requirements should influence acquisition decisions that determine the sustainability of a ship class, such as the ship’s design. Read the paper and presentation.
Design for Sustainment: Governance Engineering in Major Acquisition Programs
William Baker (U.S. Navy), Lucas Marino (AECOM), Joseph Bradley (Patrona Corporation), Kaitlynn Castelle (Patrona Corporation)
- Micro-abstract: We report on the efforts to use agile development to develop a pilot sustainment system to provide integrated logistics support to the future fleet. Read the paper.
See more research in the full Proceedings of the 17th Annual Acquisition Research Symposium.
This Week’s Top Story
Here’s the newest price tag for DoD’s arsenal of equipment
Aaron Mehta, Defense News
The Defense Department’s portfolio of 121 key defense acquisition programs now has a price tag of $1.86 trillion, according to a new report by the Government Accountability Office.
The number comes from the GAO’s annual assessment of Pentagon acquisition, delivered to the public on Wednesday. The figure involves a 4 percent increase over the previous year but also factors in, for the first time, 15 major IT investments ($15.1 billion) and 13 middle-tier acquisition programs ($19.5 billion).
The vast majority comes from 93 major defense acquisition programs, or MDAP, worth $1.82 trillion. Of those, 85 MDAPs worth a total of $1.8 trillion are already underway, with the rest expected to enter production in the near future. The $1.8 trillion figure marks the largest level of investment in MDAPs since 2011, and an increase of $44 billion over the department’s 2018 MDAP portfolio.
The current MDAP portfolio has accumulated more than $628 billion in cost growth over the life of its programs — or 54 percent more than the projected cost when programs began — with schedule growth overshooting targets by 29 percent at an average capability delivery delay of more than two years.
Acquisition and Innovation
SOCOM Looking To Bake In AI Requirements On Every New Program
Paul McLeary, Breaking Defense
Federal procurement spending up $120B since 2015
Jason Miller, Federal News Network
The Navy has 10 new information warfare projects
Mark Pomerleau, C4ISR Net
Shipbuilding suppliers need more than market forces to stay afloat
Bryan Clark and Timothy A. Walton, Defense News
Air Force could dole out nearly $27 billion in first round of ABMS contracts
Nathan Strout, C4ISR Net
SOCOM Multi-Mission Plane Competition Heats Up
Theresa Hitchens, Breaking Defense
Navy Marine Corps Acquisition Regulation Supplement (NMCARS) Challenge
Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Procurement)
Automation is advancing in federal acquisition
Mark Rockwell, FCW
Events (Upcoming and Recent Recordings)
Agility Prime: Collaborative Research and Development
June 10, 2020, 1:00-2:30 EDT
Hacking for Defense® Educators Course (Virtual)
First online session: June 17, 2020
How to Engage with the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) Research Ecosystem
June 19, 2020
Dcode Virtual: Navy Assistant Secretary James “Hondo” Geurts
Recorded May 14, 2020
Research and Higher Education
Benchmarking Data Use and Analytics in Large, Complex Private-Sector Organizations: Implications for Department of Defense Acquisition
Jeffrey A. Drezner, Jon Schmid, Justin Grana, Megan McKernan, Mark Ashby (RAND Corporation)
The Call for Decision Science: Why All Sailors and Marines Should Care
David Laszcz, Real Clear Defense
Students Across Navy’s Educational Enterprise Exchange Big Ideas
MC2 Nathan K. Serpico, Naval Postgraduate School
Military service academies plan for students’ return in fall
Brian Witte, The Associated Press
Joint Chiefs Vision Changes Military Education Philosophy
Department of Defense Press Release
Defense and Federal Government
Historic nomination of first black service chief to move forward after lawmaker lifts secret hold
Joe Gould, Valerie Insinna, and Leo Shane III; Defense News
Watch: General Brown remarks (Twitter video)
CNO Message to Sailors (video)
In his fight to change the Corps, America’s top Marine takes friendly fire
David B. Larter, Defense News
US joins G7 artificial intelligence group to counter China
Matt O'Brien, The Associated Press
China’s missile and space tech is creating a defensive bubble difficult to penetrate
Mike Yeo, Defense News
Costs of Creating a Space National Guard
Congressional Budget Office
Interim director takes over Joint Artificial Intelligence Center
Nathan Strout, C4ISR Net
Pentagon names seven new bases for 5G test beds
Andrew Eversden, C4ISR Net
COVID-19 and Contracting
DOD Announces Two Defense Production Act Title 3 COVID-19 Projects to Support the Space Defense Industrial Base: $12.45 Million Investment to Improve Domestic Semiconductor Production and $6 Million to Expand Domestic Production of Satellite Solar Array Panels
U.S. Department of Defense Press Release
Pentagon taps $688 million in coronavirus aid for defense industry
Joe Gould, Defense News
Special Report on Best Practices and Lessons Learned for DoD Contracting Officials in the Pandemic Environment (DODIG-2020-085)
Department of Defense Office of Inspector General
Policy and Regulatory Update
Federal Acquisition Regulation: Policy on Joint Ventures
Federal Register
Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement: Repeal of Annual Reporting Requirements to Congressional Defense Committees (DFARS Case 2020-D004)
Federal Register
Congress
Chairman Smith and Ranking Member Thornberry Announce Markup Schedule for Fiscal Year 2021 National Defense Authorization Act
House Armed Services Committee
Inhofe, Reed Announce FY 2021 NDAA Markup Schedule
Senate Committee on Armed Services
Support Swells For New Indo-Pacom Funding; Will Money Follow
Paul McLeary, Breaking Defense
Would the White House consider a national cyber director?
Andrew Eversden, Fifth Domain
Lawmakers want must-pass defense bill to protect protesters from the military
Joe Gould, Defense News
AFGE urges Congress to back labor priorities in defense bill
Lia Russell, FCW
Navy Lacks ‘Clear Theory of Victory’ Needed to Build New Fleet, Experts Tell House Panel
Sam LaGrone, USNI News
May 29, 2020
ARP Research: Symposium Spotlight
Panel #20: Contemporary Challenges in Contract Management
Non-Competitive Contracting: Lessons from Contracting Personnel
Latika Hartmann (Naval Postgraduate School), Josh Cissell (Contract Manager, F-22 Modernization/F-119 Sustainment), Rene Rendon (Naval Postgraduate School)
- Micro-abstract: We survey a small group of Air Force contracting personnel to understand their views on contracting in sole-source environments. Our findings suggest Air Force contracting personnel in this setting know that sellers in noncompetitive relationships have more leverage and power than the buyer.
- Read the paper and presentation.
Evaluating the Impact of Contracting “Tripwires” on Service Acquisitions
William Lucyshyn (Center for Public Policy and Private Enterprise), Samuel Quist (University of Maryland)
- Micro-abstract: The report evaluates how tripwire implementation, on the whole and in specific instances, has impacted acquisition outcomes and examines the empirical basis for specific tripwire thresholds and their approval authorities.
- Read the paper.
A Rendezvous with Discretion: An Analysis of Federal Simplified Acquisition Procedure Contracts
Benjamin Brunjes (University of Washington)
- Micro-abstract: This paper assesses how federal contracting officials use discretion afforded via simplified acquisition procedures (SAP) to influence equity and performance.
- Read the paper.
See more research in the full Proceedings of the 17th Annual Acquisition Research Symposium: https://event.nps.edu/conf/app/researchsymposium/home#!/page/148
This Week’s Top Story
The Pacific Deterrence Initiative: Peace Through Strength in the Indo-Pacific
Sen. Jim Inhofe and Sen. Jack Reed
The best way to protect U.S. security and prosperity in Asia is to maintain a credible balance of military power. But America’s ability to do so is at risk. And it’s not just U.S. interests at stake. Allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific are watching closely, and wondering whether they will be able to count on America.
With the stakes so high, the time for action is now. That’s why this year we intend to establish a Pacific Deterrence Initiative in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021. The Pacific Deterrence Initiative will enhance budgetary transparency and oversight, and focus resources on key military capabilities to deter China. The initiative will also reassure U.S. allies and partners, and send a strong signal to the Chinese Communist Party that the American people are committed to defending U.S. interests in the Indo-Pacific.
What the Pacific Deterrence Initiative Will Do
The Pentagon is taking challenges in the Indo-Pacific seriously, and has made some important progress implementing the National Defense Strategy in the region. That’s especially true when it comes to rebuilding readiness and investing in modernization. Unfortunately, the progress to date has been insufficient to achieve the “urgent change at significant scale” that is required. The Pacific Deterrence Initiative will improve the implementation of the National Defense Strategy in the Indo-Pacific, and incentivize the Pentagon to better prioritize the region in its annual budget process.
First, the Pacific Deterrence Initiative will enhance budgetary transparency and congressional oversight. The National Defense Strategy refocused the Pentagon on strategic competition with China and Russia, elevating the priority of the Indo-Pacific and European theaters. But while translating regional priorities into budget priorities is a critical aspect of implementing the National Defense Strategy, it’s also a major challenge for the current Pentagon budget process.
The United States needs to shift the balance from the current focus on platforms and programs toward the specific missions its warfighters may be called upon to perform. A mission-oriented approach will bring more attention to the joint and enabling capabilities that are essential to their success.
Acquisition and Innovation
The Pentagon’s artificial intelligence hub wants unilateral acquisition power
Andrew Eversden, C4ISR Net
Army seeking technologies that will better ‘harness’ its data
Jackson Barnett, FedScoop
Space Acquisition: Speed May Not Fix Problems, Critics Say
Theresa Hitchens, Breaking Defense
F-35 Costs Drop for Building Jets But Rise for Operating Them
Anthony Capaccio, Bloomberg
DoD moves AI development to Air Force’s Cloud One as JEDI protest drags on
Jared Serbu and Scott Maucione, Federal News Network
CMMC looks to clear up questions about cybersecurity assessors
Jackson Barnett, FedScoop
A Snapshot of Government-wide Contracting for FY 2019 (infographic)
U. S. Government Accountability Office
Events (Upcoming and Recent)
Government Contract Pricing Summit
Hosted by ProPricing. June 24-25, 2020.
Challenges to the Industrial Base during Covid-19
Center for Strategic and International Studies. Recorded May 28, 2020.
AI, Defense, and Intelligence: A Conversation with JAIC Director Lt. Gen. John N.T. “Jack” Shanahan
Center for Strategic and International Studies. Recorded May 29, 2020.
Research and Higher Education
10 Predictions for Higher Education’s Future
John Kroger, Inside Higher Ed
2020 Annual Report: Additional Opportunities to Reduce Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication and Achieve Billions in Financial Benefits
U.S. Government Accountability Office
Prioritizing Weapon System Cybersecurity in a Post-Pandemic Defense Department
Morgan Dwyer, Center for Strategic and International Studies
Defense and Federal Government
Focus on US as main opponent, says China military strategist
Matt Ho, South China Morning Post
Here’s the Pentagon’s plan to help the US stay ahead on 5G
Jackson Barnett, FedScoop
New Cyber Office Will Unify NAVSEA’s Digital Efforts
Megan Eckstein, USNI News
Will defense budgets remain ‘sticky’ after the COVID-19 pandemic?
Eric Lofgren, Defense News
Marine Corps to Shut Down, Cut Back 7 MOSs as the Force Prepares for Change
Gina Harkins, Military.com
Here’s Big Navy’s COVID-19 deployment guidance
Geoff Ziezulewicz, Navy Times
COVID-19 and Contracting
Did acquisition restrictions exacerbate PPE supply challenges?
Mike Hettinger and Richard Beutel
Some major Army programs slip due to coronavirus effect
Scott Maucione, Federal News Network
The Pentagon has spent 23% of its COVID-19 response funds. Congress is asking why not more.
Joe Gould, Defense News
Policy
United States Strategic Approach to The People’s Republic of China
Office of the President of the United States
Congress
Senate’s NDAA markup is two weeks away. How will the pandemic change things?
Joe Gould, Defense News
Inhofe, Reed back new military fund to confront China
Joe Gould and Aaron Mehta, Defense News
HASC leadership outlines ‘concerns’ over Ligado in new letter
Aaron Mehta and Mike Gruss, C4ISR Net
May 22, 2020
Noteworthy in Issue #9: We continue to provide highlights from our 17th Annual Acquisition Research Symposium, sharing research on how DoD can build on current innovations in acquisition. This week’s top story explains the Space Force’s proposed acquisition system, which shows marked parallels with recommendations made by the Section 809 Panel. We point you to those recommendations, noting those files are now hosted by both ARP and DTIC. And a theme in this week’s news: contracting for artificial intelligence in the DoD.
ARP Research: Symposium Spotlight
Panel #15: Enabling Innovation Ecosystems in Defense Acquisition
Understanding the Incentives for Small Businesses to Participate in the Acquisition Process for R&D Intensive Products
Vivek Bhattacharya (Northwestern University)
Micro abstract: DoD could incentivize more firms to enter the procurement process by changing the structure of the SBIR program itself rather than changing the broader defense procurement ecosystem. Read the Paper. View the Presentation.
The Role of New Defense Innovation Intermediaries and the Emerging Defense Innovation Ecosystem
Jon Wong and Jon Schmid (RAND Corporation)
Micro abstract: We conducted analysis on the functions purported to be performed by a set of defense innovation intermediaries (DIIs). Based on analysis of publicly available resources, the DIIs considered here do not report to perform three functions: equity investment, patient capital, and alumni management. Read the Paper.
Harnessing Rapid Innovative Culture to Invigorate the Adaptive Acquisition Framework
Matthew MacGregor, Colleen Murphy, Jen Choi, and Ryan Novak (MITRE)
Micro abstract: The Adaptive Acquisition Framework provides an opportunity for programs to exercise creativity in a way not possible for many years. It will take acquisition professionals time to grasp the nuances of the options available to them. Acquisition leaders need to encourage their people to explore and use flexibilities and resist the urge to impose restrictions. Read the Paper.
This Week’s Top Story
Space Force proposes ‘alternative acquisition system’ with less red tape
Sandra Erwin, Space News
The U.S. Space Force on May 20 delivered a report to congressional committees asking for changes in the rules that currently are in place for buying new weapon systems.
Congress in the legislation that established the U.S. Space Force directed Air Force Secretary Barbara Barrett to propose an “alternative acquisition system” for the new service. The report was written by Barrett, the top civilian leader for the Air Force and the Space Force, with input from the chief of space operations for the U.S. Space Force Gen. John Raymond.
The report argues that many of the Pentagon’s rules for procurement programs create unnecessary burdens and squelch innovation. The current systems “produces systems that take too long to develop and deploy, cost more than expected, and yield exquisite point solutions to fulfill stable requirements for a closed architecture.”
The United States has to modernize fast to keep up with adversaries, Barrett says in the report. “Space threats demand a shift to a system that more broadly delivers agile solutions.”
The report proposes nine specific actions:
- Delegate oversight
- Flexibility in budgeting
- Change the definition of “new start”
- Fewer budget line items
- Simplify Pentagon reviews
- Reduce reporting requirements
- Change how “end items” are defined
- Separate Space Force topline budget
- Create separate head of contracting
Section 809 Panel Updates
A number of the changes proposed for Space Force’s alternate acquisition parallel recommendations made by the Section 809 Panel, particularly the budget recommendations to group investments by portfolios and to allow new starts during a continuing resolution. See those recommendations online.
Recommendation 36: Transition from a program-centric execution model to a portfolio execution model.
Read more of the panel’s recommendations on portfolio management and the budget process in the full Volume 3 Report. Visit the Section 809 Panel page hosted by the Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC) and click on the tab for “Volume 3.”
Events
Former CNO Mullen Talks Leadership, National Security Challenges in a Post-COVID-19 World
MC2 Tom Tonthat, Naval Postgraduate School
Years of leadership experience as a Naval officer, culminating as the Navy's Chief of Naval Operations then as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, retired Navy Adm. Mike Mullen offered his views on requirements of leaders and national security issues in the post-COVID-19 world during the Naval Postgraduate School’s (NPS) first virtual Secretary of the Navy Guest Lecture (SGL), May 19.
Click the link to read more and watch recorded video of this week’s event.
The Big Ideas Exchange (BIX)
An NPS initiative that brings forward new and potentially game-changing thinking developed by NPS faculty and students to address grand challenges in American national security.
Next event: May 27, 2020.
Artificial Intelligence in the DoN
View recording from this week’s NavalX event discussing Artificial Intelligence in the Department of the Navy.
Acquisition and Innovation
Booz Allen Hamilton wins massive Pentagon artificial intelligence contract
Andrew Eversden, C4ISR Net
A Pentagon Procurement Program That Seems Doomed to Fail
Dan Gouré, Real Clear Defense
These eight satellites will track hypersonic weapons
Nathan Strout, C4ISR Net
Citing TransDigm, DoD seeks new acquisition powers, and trade groups oppose
Joe Gould, Defense News
JAIC needs its own acquisition authority within next two years, Shanahan says
Jackson Branett, FedScoop
Emerging and Disruptive Technology: Workshop on NATO engagement with Non-Defence Technology Companies
North Atlantic Treaty Organization
What Google’s New Contract Reveals About the Pentagon’s Evolving Clouds
Patrick Tucker, Defense One
Navy hopes new NGEN contract will lead to ‘domain singularity’
Jared Serbu, Federal News Network
Research and Higher Education
Finally Getting Serious About Professional Military Education
James Lacey, War on the Rocks
A culture of learning: Why the Marine Corps is promoting education, training in its new doctrine
Diana Stancy Correll, Marine Times
Can College Be Saved in the COVID-19 Era?
John Kroger, Inside Higher Ed
Building a Broader Evidence Base for Defense Acquisition Policymaking
Elizabeth M. Bartels, Jeffrey A. Drezner, and Joel B. Predd (RAND Corporation)
Defense and Federal Government
Pentagon legislation aims to end dependence on China for rare earth minerals
Joe Gould, Defense News
Coronavirus pushed Air Force to move industry engagements online. Officials wish it had been sooner.
Jared Serbu, Federal News Network
TTS’s demand has grown ‘significantly’ during the pandemic, Anil Cheriyan says
Billy Mitchell, FedScoop
Navy still sees ship maintenance delays despite new contracting strategy
Caitlin M. Kenney, Stars and Stripes
STRIKEWERX Aimed at Quick-Turn Fixes to Global Strike Problems
John A. Tirpak, Air Force Magazine
COVID-19 and Contracting
Lockheed slated to miss F-35 delivery target in 2020 as supply chain struggles to keep up
Valerie Insinna, Defense News
Federal Data Strategy Deadlines Shift Due to COVID-19
Aaron Boyd, NextGov
3M billed government $7.63 for 85-cent earplugs. It now has $1 billion COVID contract
Tara Copp, McClatchy
The White House Is Rewriting Contracting Language to Clarify Security Liability
Marian Baksh, NextGov
Policy and Regulatory Updates
Congress
House changes its rules during pandemic, allowing remote voting for the first time in its 231-year history
Mike DeBonis, The Washington Post
Citing financial cost of pandemic, House liberals demand cut in military spending
Mike DeBonis, The Washington Post
House panel to hold private Ligado call with FCC and defense officials
Aaron Mehta and Joe Gould, C4ISR Net
Kenneth Braithwaite Gets Senate Confirmation to be Navy Secretary
Brenda Marie Rivers, GovConWire
May 15, 2020
Noteworthy in Issue #8: plenty of news from ARP and NPS this week! We celebrate the original dates for the 17th Annual Acquisition Research Symposium with the publication of our full symposium proceedings. NPS embarks on a new initiative with NavalX’s new Central Cost Tech Bridge. And the public is invited to tune in to NPS’s Secretary of the Navy Guest Lecture in its new virtual format. As always, keep letting us know if you have work we can highlight in future issues.
ARP Research: Symposium Spotlight
Full Symposium Proceedings Now Available Online
We miss you! While we could not gather in person this week for the 17th Annual Acquisition Research Symposium, we are thinking of you and look forward to seeing you in Monterey, California next year on May 12-13, 2021! This year’s symposium had a great line-up, and we are excited to share with you the papers, presentations, and NPS graduate student research posters on our conference website:
https://event.nps.edu/conf/app/researchsymposium/home#!/page/148.
Note that papers and presentations include contact information for the authors. If their research sparks your curiosity or admiration, please take a minute to reach out and connect.
This Week’s Top Story
Central Coast Joins NavalX Community of Emerging Tech Centers
Rebecca Hoag, CHIPS: The Department of the Navy’s Information Technology Magazine
The new Central Coast (C2) NavalX Tech Bridge is one of six new locations announced today in a significant expansion of the Navy’s innovative approach to rapid acquisition and tech evolution. Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) Associate Dean of Research for Technology Development Christopher Manuel, an NPS alumnus, will serve as director of the C2 Tech Bridge, which will be managed under the umbrella of the university’s new Emerging Technology Center (ETC).
“The goal is to link problem-solvers to folks with problems,” said James F. Geurts, assistant secretary of the Navy for research, development and acquisition, who leads the NavalX program, which oversees the Tech Bridge program. Tech Bridges will increase the efficiency of technological advancement by reducing redundant projects across the sea service, initiated through stovepiped acquisition processes and a lack of communication among diverse agencies, Geurts said.
NavalX, established by the Navy in February 2019, initially formed six Tech Bridges across the nation to act as “super connectors” focused on scaling non-traditional agility methods across the DON workforce. Tech Bridges are developed in locations where there is an opportunity to capitalize on a regional strength with applicability to Navy challenges and issues.
For the Central Coast Tech Bridge, that “sweet spot” resides in its access to Naval Postgraduate School students and faculty, and its proximity to the Silicon Valley.
As the DoD’s premier educational institution on the West Coast, NPS supports a full spectrum of graduate level research across the STEM disciplines and beyond. Through the expanded networks provided by the C2 Tech Bridge and the full cadre of NavalX Tech Bridges, Navy leaders hope to further leverage the intellectual resources of NPS to address key operational requirements.
Within the university’s student population, every U.S. uniformed service is represented across the full range of warfighting specialties, providing a unique level of expertise. Additionally, C2 will bring in access to expertise from research and education institutions around the Peninsula and into Silicon Valley as well.
“The Central Coast Tech Bridge is the front door for entrepreneurs to work with the Navy and DOD on technology solutions,” Manuel said. “Our partnership with the Naval Postgraduate School provides access to expert faculty and experienced military students who understand operational challenges and are eager to work with business to solve research challenges. The C2 Tech Bridge will facilitate growth of public/private partnerships and dual-use technologies.”
Contact Information:
Chris Manuel
Associate Dean of Research for Technology Development
Director, Central Coast Tech Bridge
Naval Postgraduate School
Office (831) 656-3533 / Cell (925) 628-4889
Email: cemanuel1@nps.edu
Website: https://www.secnav.navy.mil/agility/Pages/tb_centralcoast.aspx
Upcoming Virtual Events from NPS and NavalX
The New Reality: Leadership and National Security in the Post-COVID-19 World
Admiral Michael Mullen (Ret.) will deliver the first Virtual Secretary of the Navy Guest Lecture hosted by Naval Postgraduate School President Rondeau, with a moderated Q&A session with NPS students. Tune in to the live video event May 19 at 3:00 PST.
Artificial Intelligence in the DoN
Join NavalX on May 20th as we host a webinar with leaders in the Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) Community, aka Naval Warriors, across the Department of the Navy. Register now for the online event, May 20 at 4:00 EST.
Acquisition and Innovation
Pentagon Wants Better Data For Its Predictive Aircraft Maintenance AI
Frank Konkel, NextGov
Navy to divide PEO EIS into two new offices for enterprise IT acquisitions
Jackson Barnett, FedScoop
Some F-35 suppliers are having trouble delivering parts on schedule, and Turkey’s departure could make that worse
Valerie Insinna, Defense News
Problem curation and lean methodology with Pete Newell
Eric Lofgren, Acquisition Talk
Special Operations Command Launches ‘Engage SOF’ Tool
Yasmin Tadjdeh, National Defense
Federal Marketplace (FMP) Strategy Spring 2020 Release
U.S. General Services Administration
The Army network plan to ‘compete everything’
Andrew Eversden, C4IRS Net
GSA modernizes its ‘knowledge repository’ for cloud services
Andrew Eversden, Federal Times
Defense firm advocates for ‘hybrid procurement system’ to save billions in the UK
Andrew Chuter, Defense News
The 8 Most Original Military Tech Ideas for the Fight Against COVID-19
Matthew Cox, Military.com
Research and Higher Education
RFP: United States Naval Community College Partnerships
Office of the Chief Learning Officer, Beta.sam.gov
Online Learning in a Post-Pandemic World
Diana LaChance, Defense Acquisition University
CSU plans to cancel most in-person classes and go online this fall, chancellor says
Nina Agrawal, Los Angeles Times
Defense and Federal Government
SBA’s Maria Roat Officially Named Deputy Federal CIO
Aaron Boyd, Nextgov
Inside DoN CIO (video)
Government Matters
Navy Scraps Big Carrier Study, Clears Deck For OSD Effort
Paul McLeary, Breaking Defense
GAO: Navy Seeing Improvements in Surface Ship Maintenance Costs, But Schedule is Still An Issue
Megan Eckstein, USNI News
Space Force vice commander: China can’t be allowed to buy bankrupt U.S. space companies
Sandra Erwin, Space News
COVID-19 and Contracting
Pandemic Delays Industry Day for Marine Corps Light Armored Vehicle Replacement
Matthew Cox, Military.com
USAF Executes $126 Million Contract for In-Demand N95 Masks
Brian W. Everstine, Air Force Magazine
Pentagon Task Force Turns to Data to Shape COVID-19 Response
Brandi Vincent, Nextgov
US Defense Firms Hiring Thousands Amid Record Unemployment
Marcus Weisgerber, Defense One
Policy and Regulatory Updates
Priority Open Recommendations: Office of Management and Budget
U.S. Government Accountability Office
Congress
Three Commissions Ask Congress to Consider Workforce Recommendations for FY 2021 Defense Policy Bill
Jane Edwards, Executive Gov
See the letter: Joint Commission Letter to Congress on National Security Workforce Recommendations
US-China Commission Urges Tougher Space Cooperation Restrictions
Theresa Hitchens, Breaking Defense
DoD asks Congress for a two-sub Columbia-class buy
Joe Gould, David B. Larter, and Valerie Insinna, Defense News
Senator Pushes to Require National Cyber Director in Defense Authorization Bill
Mariam Baksh, Nextgov
30 senators to urge FCC to reverse Ligado decision
Joe Gould, Defense News
May 8, 2020
Noteworthy in Issue #7: continuing highlights from our 17th Annual Acquisition Research Symposium, a new Navy approach to education and officer evaluation, and updates on the Section 809 Panel. Plus, the ongoing saga of the JEDI contract, as well as other key news items in acquisition, policy, government innovation, and research. We appreciate hearing from you. Keep letting us know if you have work we can highlight in future issues.
ARP Research: Symposium Spotlight
This week we continue our weekly highlight of one of the panels from the 17th Annual Acquisition Research Symposium, with its scenic virtual tour of the peninsula. In this issue: How can advanced data analysis help improve acquisition decisions? And two photos: the sculpture of Humpback Whales Breaching at Berwick Park, and a view of last year’s symposium.
Panel #11: Analytics in Acquisition Management
System-of-Systems Acquisition Analytics Using Machine Learning Techniques
Authors: Ali Raz (Purdue University), Prajwal Balasubramani (Purdue University), Apoorv Maheshwari (Purdue University), Daniel DeLaurentis (Purdue University), Stephanie Marie Harrington (Purdue University), Cesare Guariniello (Purdue University)
- Micro abstract: This research investigates how the System-of-Systems (SoS) capability evolves from the individual system preferences and how we can leverage the datasets employed for siloed system-level decision-making for the SoS-level decision making.
Analysis of Contractor Data in Federal Acquisition Databases
Authors: Ningning Wu (University of Arkansas), John Talburt (University of Arkansas at Little Rock), Richard Wang (University of Arkansas at Little Rock), Mihail Tudoreanu (University of Arkansas at Little Rock), Sanketh Siruvolu (University of Arkansas at Little Rock)
- Micro abstract: This research uses information from publicly accessible acquisition databases and the web to identify the distribution of federal contractors in areas at high risk of natural disasters. The work is part of an ongoing research project whose ultimate goal is to develop a risk assessment framework that can help acquisition decision-makers assess potential risks to a supply chain or project and mitigate such risks.
Using Natural Language Processing, Sentiment Analysis, and Text Mining to Determine if Text in Selected Acquisition Report Executive Summaries Are Highly Correlated with Major Defense Acquisition Program (MDAP) Unit Costs and Can Be Used as a Variable to Predict Future MDAP Costs
Authors: Brian Joseph (OUSD(A&S)), Michael Smith (OUSD(A&S)), Darris Sconion (OUSD(A&S))
- Micro abstract: This research conducts sentiment analysis of SAR executive summaries to determine whether their average emotional valence sentiment is highly correlated with MDAP unit cost metrics.
This Week’s Top Story
Education and Learning, an Operational Imperative
John Kroger, Chief Learning Officer, and Vice Adm. John Nowell, Chief of Naval Personnel
Learning, innovation, and personal and professional development are part of our Naval heritage and continue to be important in enabling the warfighters of today.
Our service is moving forward in recording and recognizing educational and learning achievements in our formal fitness reports to ensure it is viewed as a strategic priority, alongside our ships, aircraft and weapons systems.
This will give our Navy a warfighting advantage and allow us to thrive and win against any competitor in this rapidly changing and complex global environment.
Education and a commitment to continuous learning is an operational imperative and, through our enhanced talent management processes, we will empower and reward officers who accelerate their intellectual development and improve their performance through education and learning opportunities.
To support these goals, and in conjunction with MyNavy HR’s efforts to integrate education effectively into Sailor 2025 talent management initiatives, fitness reports (FITREPs) will include specific comments regarding education, learning, and support for a learning culture. This requirement will allow us to identify, select, and reward those officers who have demonstrated the commitment and ability to learn, as well as those who encourage and support the learning of others, by placing them into positions of influence at the tactical, operational, and strategic levels.
Section 809 Panel News and Updates
Viewpoint: Bring Back the Rapid Innovation Fund
Chip Laingen, National Defense Magazine
Key points: The Defense Department’s Rapid Innovation Fund, which accessed innovation largely from small businesses using Broad Agency Announcements, was part of an effort to accelerate critical technology to the warfighter […]. It was, however, abruptly ended in 2020 after nine successful years. […] The fiscal year 2020 NDAA adjusted the language to increase the cap on projects from $3 million to $6 million. However, Congress did not appropriate funds for the program this year. […]
“Congress made the program permanent in 2017, and DoD’s own Section 809 Panel on streamlining the acquisition process recommended $750 million in funding for RIF. It’s time for the DoD to fully commit to RIF and put it in their budget requests,” Jere Glover said.
Status of Section 809 Panel recommendations
ARP continues to monitor the implementation status of recommendations made by the Section 809 Panel. Latest version available here.
Acquisition and Innovation
AWS files yet another JEDI protest, challenges DoD’s process for reconsidering the contract
Jared Serbu, Federal News Network
THE JEDI ACQUISITION: Innovation Rejected
Vernon J. Edwards, The Nash & Cibnic Report
Air Force Realigns PEOs to Give Bombers More Focus, Capture Mobility ‘Synergies’
John A. Tirpak
6 pathways and 14 functional areas to make up new acquisition policy framework
Eric Lofgren, Acquisition Talk
The Army’s future vertical lift plan may have a supplier problem
Aaron Mehta
Acquisition Tool: Justifications and Approvals / Sole Source Acquisitions
Defense Pricing and Contracting
Research and Higher Education
DOD Invests $3.6 Million for the Defense Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research Competition Winners
Department of Defense
Dave Dilegge, the ‘grandfather of urban warfare studies,’ has died
Howard Altman, Military Times
Defense and Federal Government
Pentagon’s chief reform job is ineffective and needs to go, study says
Joe Gould, Defense News
NDIA’s Wesley Hallman on a liability shield and other defense priorities for the next stimulus
Joe Gould, Defense News
Esper: Flat budget could speed cutting legacy programs
Aaron Mehta, Defense News
Defense Innovation Board Director Moves to Google
Patrick Tucker, Defense One
Navy Announces New VCNO, Other Top Assignments, in First Notification Since Policy Reversal
Megan Eckstein, USNI News
Here’s the DARPA project it says could pull the Navy a decade forward in unmanned technology
David B. Larter, C4ISR Net
5 things you should know about the US Navy’s new frigate
David B. Larter, Defense News
The United Kingdom Needs a Maritime Strategy
Dr. Anthony Wells, U.S. Naval Institute
COVID-19 and Contracting
Air Force rolls out Advanced Battle Management System devices in COVID-19 fight
Nathan Strout, C4ISR Net
How Will The Pandemic Affect National Security Innovation?
Rachel Olney, War on the Rocks
Pentagon reports boost in predatory foreign investment to US tech firms amid pandemic
Valerie Insinna, C4ISR Net
Policy and Regulatory Updates
Class Deviation—Original Documents, Signatures, Seals, and Notarization
Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment
Procurement Integrated Enterprise Environment Capabilities
Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment
Update to Standard Procurement System Sunset Date
Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment
Congress
Top Armed Services Republican expects to address Pentagon border wall funds in defense policy bill
Rebecca Kheel, The Hill
Proposed rule banning Chinese tech needs to consider small contractors, senators warn
Andrew Eversden, Fifth Domain
Nominations: Braithwaite--Anderson—Brown (video and transcripts)
Senate Armed Services Committee
May 1, 2020
ARP Research: Symposium Spotlight
Beginning in this issue, each week we will highlight one of the panels from the 17th Annual Acquisition Research Symposium, which was suspended due to concerns about public health and security issues with Zoom. And since part of the joy of the symposium is coming to lovely Monterey, California, we will also give you a virtual tour of the peninsula—one scenic picture per weekly newsletter.
This week: How can the defense acquisition workforce be better recruited, trained, and retained? And a virtual stroll along Fisherman’s Wharf.
Panel #05: Characterizing the Acquisition Workforce
Retention Analysis Modeling for the Acquisition Workforce
Authors: Tom Ahn (Naval Postgraduate School), Amilcar Menichini (Naval Postgraduate School)
- Micro abstract: We analyze the long-run career trajectory of a subset of the civilian acquisition workforce (AWF) to find that 1) the AWF does well in retaining diversity, 2) one of the strongest predictors of career longevity is prior military service, and 3) workers with more education have longer careers. Read more.
Examining Turnover Behavior, Gender, and STEM Participation in the Federal Civil Service
Authors: Spencer Brien (Naval Postgraduate School), Sam Buttrey (Naval Postgraduate School), Lyn Whittaker (Naval Postgraduate School), Kurt Klingensmith (US ARMY - TRAC Monterey)
- Micro abstract: Refocusing managerial strategies toward recruitment and advertisement of job openings may be more effective at achieving higher gender diversity in STEM than new retention initiatives. Read more.
An Innovative Approach to Assessing DoD Contracting Workforce Competency
Authors: Rene Rendon (Naval Postgraduate School), Brett Schwartz (Graduate School of Defense Management)
- Micro abstract: The purpose of this research is to develop a new competency assessment instrument based on the National Contract Management Association’s (NCMA) Contract Management Body of Knowledge and American National Standards Institute–accredited Contract Management Standard to be used in assessing the DoD’s contracting workforce competency. Read more.
See more ARP research, Monterey scenes, and top news on social media
This Week’s Top Story
Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification: An Idea Whose Time Has Not Come And Never May
Frank Kendall, Forbes
Improving the cybersecurity posture of the defense industrial base is a worthy objective. Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification, or CMMC, represents a new approach to improving industry resilience to cyber-attack and protecting sensitive but unclassified information. CMMC is a deeply flawed way to achieve this objective. I have no doubt that the proponents of CMMC have noble intentions, but they do not seem to have thought this construct through. The Defense Department should at least delay CMMC implementation, and probably cancel it altogether.
CMMC seems to be a response to some genuine issues with the cybersecurity compliance method that has been used for the last several years – contractually required implementation of National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) cybersecurity standards. In full disclosure, I initiated that contractual approach as Under Secretary of Defense, and I adjusted it as the Department learned from its early experience. More adjustments are needed: Compliance auditing and incentives should be strengthened, self-certification by industry isn’t reliable enough, standards need to be better defined and more consistently applied, and standards should be tailorable based on the type of information the firm possesses and the damage theft or destruction of that information would entail. These are all problems that can be addressed directly and fixed.
Acquisition and Innovation
Navy contract spending jumps 30% in April amid coronavirus pandemic
Jared Serbu, Federal News Network
GSA Develops Human-Centered Design Buying Guide for Agencies
Frank Konkel, NextGov
Flying cars will bring new tech, new acquisition models to the Air Force
Jackson Barnett, FedScoop
Do Soldiers Dream Of Electric Trucks?
Sydney J. Freedberg Jr., Breaking Defense
Navy strengthens defense industrial base with new small business funding opportunity
Office of Naval Research
The US government is helping get cash to private space companies, replacing frozen venture capital
Michael Sheetz, CNBC
GSA’s new governmentwide contract standardizes use of gig economy for agencies
Jason Miller, Federal News Network
How one RFP is prompting backlash against the new cybersecurity board for defense contractors
Jackson Barnett, FedScoop
In First, DoD Awards Massive $7.2 Billion Contract to Single Company for PCS Moves
Hope Hodge Seck and Amy Bushatz, Military.com
Research and Higher Education
In Reforming the DOD, Congress has no Portion Control
Kelly Ann McCarty, Medium
Leveraging Commercial Games in Military Education (Event)
Georgetown University Wargaming Society
Senators urge against shuttering of Pentagon’s cyber college
Billy Mitchell, FedScoop
Defense and Federal Government
VA's $16 billion electronic health records modernization plan is failing, IG says
Richard Sisk, Military.com
NGA Knows Its Challenges, Now It Needs the Tech to Address Them
Aaron Boyd, NextGov
Pentagon Wary Of Adversaries Buying Defense Firms Amid Economic Crisis
Paul McLeary, Breaking Defense
Boeing Defense to Surpass Commercial Side For First Time In More Than a Decade
Marcus Weisgerber, Defense One
The Pentagon will have to live with limits on F-35’s supersonic flights
David B. Larter, Valerie Insinna, and Aaron Mehta; Defense News
COVID-19 and Contracting
COVID cash crunch still hurting small defense firms
Joe Gould, Defense News
Pentagon announces Defense Production Act to boost coronavirus testing swab production
Kaitlan Collins, Ryan Browne and Paul LeBlanc, CNN
An update on the current contracting landscape
Tom Temin and Dan Snyder, Federal News Network
DoD must brace for long-term supply chain problems; big mergers likely
Theresa Hitchens, Breaking Defense
U.S. Navy pays contractors $600 million held back to ensure performance
Mike Stone, Reuters
Navy Acquisition Boosts Ship Contract Awards Under COVID-19
Paul McLeary, Breaking Defense
Will the small launch market survive COVID-19? The Pentagon has concerns
Nathan Strout and Valerie Insinna, C4ISR
Policy and Regulatory Updates
Achieving Condition Based Maintenance
Commandant of the Marine Corps
Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Federal Register Publications Requesting Comments:
- FAR Case 2017-011, Section 508–Based Standards in Information and Communication Technology
- FAR Case 2018-020, Construction Contract Administration
- FAR Case 2019-003, Consolidation and Substantial Bundling
Congress
House reverses plan, will not return to Washington next week
Cristina Marcos, The Hill
House Armed Services leaders pledge to pass defense bill 'this year'
Rebecca Kheel, The Hill
Key lawmaker says DoD shouldn’t get funding boost in next coronavirus stimulus package
Joe Gould and Leo Shane III, Defense News
Top Democrats call on Pentagon to review border wall contract
J. Edward Moreno, The Hill
HASC’s Langevin Pushes White House Cyber Coordinator, ‘E-Congress’
Sydney J. Fredberg Jr., Breaking Defense
April 24, 2020
This Week’s Top Story
No Winner Likely In JEDI Court Battle; ‘Just Pull The Plug?’: Greenwalt
Sydney J. Freedberg Jr., Breaking Defense
What looks like progress for the Pentagon in its five-month legal battle with Amazon Web Services is just a new variety of stalemate, a leading acquisition expert said.
“The machinations of the legal system will continue to provide pyrrhic victories to DoD or some contractors,” former Hill and Pentagon staffer Bill Greenwalt told me, “but in the end, no matter what happens, DoD – after almost three years struggling to make JEDI work – will end up trailing the commercial IT market, as it has done now for decades.”
The Department of Defense was already behind the curve when it comes to adopting cloud computing, Greenwalt said. Even government intelligence agencies have moved faster, let alone the private sector.
“Look at the timelines,” he told me. “The cloud first appears at the CIA in 2013 and in the commercial marketplace in the 2000s. DOD was way behind the curve in 2017 when it started this acquisition.”
Today, Greenwalt argued, because the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure (JEDI) program is suffering so many delays while technology forges ahead, it is being litigated into irrelevance. By effectively dragging out the trial, the latest legal developments only make that worse.
Acquisition and Innovation
Pentagon bracing for three-month slowdown on major defense equipment
Aaron Mehta, Defense News
Undersecretary Of Defense (A&S) Provides Update on DOD COVID-19 Response Efforts (Transcript)
Department of Defense
Will bureaucracy descend on the Air Force ABMS program?
Eric Lofgren, Acquisition Talk
GAO Blasts Air Force’s All-Domain Battle Management Effort
Teresa Hitchens, Breaking Defense
Judge Grants Pentagon’s Request for Corrective Action on JEDI Cloud Contract
Frank Konkel, NextGov
Harvard Students Partner with the U.S. Air Force to Help Kessel Run Grow
Harvard Kennedy School
FCC unanimously approves spectrum plan Pentagon rejected
Aaron Mehta, C4ISR
The Air Force made a surprise decision to sole-source the Long Range Standoff Weapon. Here’s who will move forward.
Valerie Insinna, Defense News
DARPA awards nine new contracts to foster drone swarm technology
Nathan Strout, C4ISR Net
50 Vendors Vie For Air Force Flying Car
Theresa Hitchens, Breaking Defense
Palantir goes to space, inking first deal with Space Force
Jackson Barnett, FedScoop
Upcoming report to Congress on space acquisition expected to be ‘groundbreaking’
Nathan Strout, C4ISR Net
DoD, Norway Partner On Ramjets For Navy Hypersonic Missiles
Theresa Hitchens, Breaking Defense
'Disruptive' missile defense technologies sought
Jason Sherman, Inside Defense
Defense and Federal Government
The Defense Department Needs a Real Technology Strategy
Paul Scharre and Ainikki Riikonen, Defense One
How to finally end the debate over why, how much to invest in cybersecurity
Jason Miller, Federal News Network
Space Force Accepting Applications Starting May 1
Rachel S. Cohen, Air Force Magazine
Defense Department study calls for cutting 2 of the US Navy’s aircraft carriers
David B. Larter, Defense News
Sherman leaving ODNI, joining DoD as next deputy CIO
Jason Miller, Federal News Network
Stop China’s predatory investments before the US becomes its next victim
Jeffery A. Green, Defense News
China's strategy to reorient US tech companies is exposed — what next?
Alex Gallo, The Hill
Mission Capable: How the Navy Harnessed Its Data to Achieve 80% Fighter Readiness
Megan Eckstein, USNI News
COVID-19 and Contracting
COVID-19 Response —Contracting with Speed
George Mason University Center for Government Contracting
Congress unleashed $2 trillion amid pandemic. One person is overseeing how it’s spent
Mary Clare Jalonick and Matthew Daly, Federal Times
White House details how agencies should call back federal employees, resume ‘normal’ operations
Nicole Ogrysko, Federal News Network
The Pentagon Will Use AI to Predict Panic Buying, COVID-19 Hotspots
Patrick Tucker, Defense One
New Cybersecurity Regulations ‘On Track’ Despite Virus
Yasmin Tadjdeh, National Defense Magazine
How the U.S. Digital Service is helping during the coronavirus pandemic
Billy Mitchell, FedScoop
Policy and Regulatory Updates
Class Deviation 2020-O0014—Flexibilities for Electronic Delivery of Information Related to Suspensions and Debarments
Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment
M-20-23: Aligning Federal Agency Operations with the National Guidelines for Opening Up America Again
Office of Management and Budget, U.S. Office of Personnel Management
Congress
FCC and Ligado are undermining GPS – and with it, our economy and national security
Sen. Jim Inhofe, Sen. Jack Reed, Rep. Adam Smith, Rep. Mac Thornberry; C4ISR Net
20 empty seats: Coronavirus may slow Pentagon’s push to fill vacancies
Aaron Mehta and Joe Gould, Defense News
Cyber policy suggestions for Pentagon could be implemented this year
Andrew Eversden, Fifth Domain
Research and Higher Education
This is the Navy’s plan for launching its new community college
John R. Kroger, Navy Times
To Prepare For A Crisis, Read Fiction
Richard Fontaine, War on the Rocks
April 17, 2020
This Week’s Top Story
DoD must identify its ‘crown jewels’ in preparation for fiscal uncertainty
Todd Harrison, Defense News
As the attention of Congress and senior leaders in the Department of Defense are rightly focused on mitigating the coronavirus pandemic, it is not too soon to begin planning for how the nation and the DoD can recover from this crisis.
The much-needed $2.2 trillion relief package recently passed by Congress — and whatever additional spending is appropriated in the coming weeks and months — comes on top of a preexisting budget deficit of more than $1 trillion for the current fiscal year. When this crisis eventually subsides, the deficit will be at an all-time high and the pressure to cut spending — including defense spending — may also be high. Now is the time to start thinking about the steps the Defense Department can take to better position itself for the post-coronavirus fiscal environment.
Historically, higher deficits put long-term pressure on the defense budget. We saw this in the mid-1980s when the federal deficit peaked at nearly $0.5 trillion (in today’s dollars). Congress reacted at the time by passing the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act. This law put in place a set of deficit caps and created an enforcement mechanism known as sequestration. From fiscal 1985 to fiscal 1991, the national defense budget fell by 19 percent in real terms as part of these deficit reduction efforts. And when the Cold War ended, it fell another 18 percent through FY98.
Acquisition and Innovation
Pentagon IG finds JEDI contract didn’t violate law, but ethical questions remain
Andrew Eversden, Federal Times
Defense Department Must Keep R&D On Track (Comments by Geurts)
Connie Lee, National Defense Magazine
Navy Hosts Virtual Industry Day to Keep Hammerhead Mine on Accelerated Acquisition Path
Megan Eckstein, USNI News
Air Force Announces Virtual Kickoff for Agility Prime’s ‘Air Race to Certification’
Brian Garrett-Glaser, Avionics International
Podcast: SOFWERX, innovation, and early adoption with Tambrein Bates
Eric Lofgren, Acquisition Talk
Meet the U.S. Air Force technology that’s empowering its teleworkers
Stephen Losey, Aerospace America
Commerce, VA, Air Force face protests of telecom modernization contracts
Jason Miller, Federal News Network
NIH releases $40B draft solicitation for CIO-SP4 vehicle
Dave Nyczepir, FedScoop
Northrop could get $85 billion award to make next-gen ICBMs sooner than expected
Valerie Insinna, Defense News
Defense and Federal Government
New Virtualization Capability to Support Space Force
Mandy Mayfield, National Defense Magazine
New Pentagon advisory group will focus on space innovation
Sandra Erwin, Space News
An Ancient Computer Language Is Slowing America’s Giant Stimulus
Ian King, Bloomberg
DOD IG announces two audits of Navy airborne capabilities
Justin Katz, Inside Defense
‘STEM Corps’ legislation would fill DOD’s gaps in tech talent
Jackson Barnett, FedScoop
The key to the nation’s cyber defense? Behavioral analysis
Sean Berg, Fifth Domain
DOD still needs to work on its cyber hygiene, watchdog finds
Jackson Barnett, FedScoop
FCC chair moves toward spectrum sale the Pentagon calls ‘unacceptable’
Mike Gruss and Aaron Mehta, C4ISR
COVID-19 and Contracting
Defense Production Act Contract to Provide 39 Million Masks
Department of Defense
Defense Contractors Keep Most Plants Running Despite Outbreak
Anthony Capaccio, Bloomberg
Homeland Security will use a new procurement pilot program to fight COVID-19
Andrew Eversden, Fifth Domain
UK hits pause on defense review due to coronavirus
Andrew Chuter, Defense News
DOD cuts red tape to support fast prototyping
Lauren Williams, FCW
ARP Updates
Announcement: 17th Annual Acquisition Research Symposium Suspended
The Acquisition Research Program (ARP) had intended to transform the Naval Postgraduate School’s 17th Annual Acquisition Research Symposium into a virtual event using Zoom. Given the security concerns about using this and other online platforms, regrettably, the ARP is choosing to suspend this year’s symposium. In the end, there is no replacement for gathering everyone together in Monterey. Read more.
China’s next plan to dominate international tech standards
Emily de La Bruyère and Nathan Picarsic, Tech Crunch
This article previews findings from Picarsic and de la Bruyere’s research paper that will be included in this year’s symposium proceedings, “Orienting Defense Acquisition for an Era of Great Power Competition.”
Policy and Regulatory Updates
Procurement Administrative Lead Time (PALT) Toolbox
Defense Pricing and Contracting
Change to the Delegation of Authority for Use of Other Transactions for Prototype Projects in Response to Coronavirus Disease 2019
Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment
Congress
GOP senators want new reviews to flag Chinese action in U.S. economy during pandemic
Tony Bertuca, Inside Defense
Thornberry wants $6 billion this year to launch counter-China fund
Aaron Mehta, Defense News
Key defense committee members consider legislation to block FCC’s Ligado move
Aaron Mehta, C4ISRNet
Research and Higher Education
Navy Engages With Indiana University to Establish New Research Facility
Nichols Martin, Executive Gov
Research Hack: KWIC Search Results for Legislation Text on Congress.gov
Amy Swantner, Library of Congress
Harvard Announces Salary and Hiring Freezes, Discretionary Spending Reductions, Potential Deferral of Capital Projects, and Leadership Salary Cuts
Michelle G. Kurilla and Ruoqi Zhang, The Harvard Crimson
Boston University Coronavirus Plan Includes Possible January 2021 Reopening
Elie Levine, WBUR
April 10, 2020
This Week’s Top Story
Modernizing DOD Requirements: Enabling Speed, Agility, And Innovation
Peter J. Modigliani, Dan Ward, Tyler Lewis, Wayne McGee Jr., The MITRE Corporation
The world is accelerating into the future, but the Department of Defense’s (DoD’s) requirements system is stuck in the past. The current approach to generating requirements is too slow to produce results when they matter most, too inflexible to account for an unpredictable environment, and too narrowly focused to satisfy joint warfighting needs across all domain operations.
This paper proposes a three-pronged approach to reforming the requirements process. First, the DoD should refine what it means by “requirements.” Defining enduring, enterprise-level requirements within major mission areas allows for management at the portfolio level, improving alignment across systems and enabling more flexibility and innovation at lower levels. Next, the DoD should establish an Adaptive Requirements Framework that parallels the new Adaptive Acquisition Framework and provides new pathways for generating and validating requirements. Finally, the DoD should rethink how programs progress through each of the new pathways.
The DoD should adopt Warfighter Essential Requirements (WER) and a portfolio management approach. As opposed to ideal or ‘perfect world’ requirements for unique platforms, WER express what the warfighter needs to accomplish the mission at an acceptable level of risk. They do not focus on individual systems but apply at the portfolio level. As such, they represent a practical level of effort that can serve as the starting point or “aim point” for architects to build system-of-systems or enterprise solutions. Armed with WER, architects empowered to manage a portfolio of programs can conduct rigorous systems-of-systems analysis and deliver capabilities at speed. The WER then become the yardstick with which to measure the resilience and effectiveness of potential enterprise architecture options. Moreover, measures of how a specific force mix performs against these requirements provide a feedback signal, impelling the portfolio to iteratively deliver capabilities to maximize performance. In this way, foundational warfighter needs become enduring and will not be pared down if they drive unacceptable acquisition risk in any individual program.
Acquisition and Innovation
New Satellites Will Be a Big Step in the Pentagon’s Plan to Link Everything
Patrick Tucker, Defense One
DHS seeks knowledge management system for procurement lab
Billy Mitchell, FedScoop
Contractors want extended deadline to rid Chinese tech from networks
Jackson Barnett, FedScoop
MiMedx Group Inc. Agrees to Pay $6.5 Million to Resolve False Claims Act Allegations of False Commercial Pricing Disclosures
Department of Justice Press Release
Defense and Federal Government
Teleworking boom prompts another cloud rollout from DOD
Jackson Barnett, FedScoop
The Pentagon’s supply chain faces an economy under siege
Valerie Insinna and Aaron Mehta, Defense News
With the commercial aviation industry in a nosedive, the Defense Department offers airlines a lifeline
Valerie Insinna, Defense News
Pentagon Delays Budget Deadline to Help Staff Work from Home
Marcus Weisgerber and Katie Bo Williams, Defense One
DIU looking for help to reduce data latency in military command and control networks
Jackson Barnett, FedScoop
‘Space Force’ sitcom starring Steve Carell landing on Netflix in May
J. D. Simkins, Military Times
COVID-19 and Contracting
Request for White Papers: COVID-19 Prototype PPE and Decontamination Equipment
Defense Logistics Agency
DOD Allows Payments to Contractors Who Cannot Work Due to COVID-19 Facility Closures or Other Restrictions
DoD Press Release
VA Delays Major IT Programs to Focus on COVID-19
Aaron Boyd, NextGov
6 Things To Know About The COVID-19 Relief Watchdog
Andrew Kragie, Law360
What Is the U.S. Public Health Service and What Does It Do?
Tessa Robinson, We Are the Mighty
Section 809 Panel Updates
ARP is tracking the implementation status of the 98 recommendations produced by the Section 809 Panel. You will find recent posts about that effort here, and you can read more about it on our website.
This week we highlight the panel’s recommendation on debriefings, from Volume 3 of its Final Report.
Despite the Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB’s) Myth-busting 3 memo, which explains how meaningful debriefings can mitigate the risk of protest, many DoD contracting agencies do not consider debriefings as a means of avoiding protests. This perception results in debriefings that many industry and private bar stakeholders described as adversarial, incomplete, and insufficient for informing unsuccessful offerors of the government’s rationale for making an award. The presumption across much of DoD appears to be that the more information that is provided at a debriefing, the more likely a disappointed offeror will use the information to file a protest.
Congress should expand the Section 818 requirement to provide a redacted source selection decision document as part of a debriefing for all situations in which a debriefing is required and to also provide the technical evaluation documentation of the vendor requesting the debriefing. Providing this additional transparency should minimize the likelihood contractors will file protests because of a lack of information.
ARP Updates
NPS Students Finish Strong in Global Simulation Competition
Tom Tonthat, Naval Postgraduate School
Congratulations to NPS student Kevan Mellendick, a member of the third-place team in a global public policy simulation, Metropolitan: A Sustainable Transit Simulation. The simulation was built using real-world data and challenged students to collaborate on transportation policies in order to improve the sustainability of their virtual city.
Been There, Done That: An Exercise to Experience
Charles Pickar, Naval Postgraduate School
Commentary written by Dr. Charles Pickar, senior lecturer in the Graduate School of Defense Management, was chosen as Editors' Pick for Runner Up in the Best Commentary category of the ALTies Awards. His commentary, "Been There, Done That: An Exercise to Experience," published in the Fall 2019 issue of Army AL&T magazine, proposes blending wargaming with acquisition program management in a dynamic environment.
ARP is on social media
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Follow us; tag us with your news: twitter @arp_nps LinkedIn: @acquisition_research_program
Policy and Regulatory Updates
Class Deviation—Limitations on Subcontracting for Small Business
Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment
Defense Pricing and Contracting: COVID-19 Resources
Congress
HASC chairman could use next stimulus to help defense industrial base
Aaron Mehta, Defense News
US Military Can Do More to Help with Coronavirus, House Armed Services Chief Says
Marcus Weisgerber, Defense One
Smith, Pallone, & Thompson Urge President Trump to Coordinate Production and Acquisition of COVID-19 Response Supplies
House Armed Services Committee Press Release
Senate Armed Services shelves 'paper hearing' plans
Rebecca Kheel, The Hill
Pandemic ‘accelerating’ House modernization as lawmakers push for remote votes, hearings
Jory Heckman, Federal News Network
Research
Software Acquisition Workforce Initiative for the Department of Defense: Initial Competency Development and Preparation for Validation
RAND Corporation
DEFENSE PRODUCTION ACT: Agencies Lack Policies and Guidance for Use of Key Authorities (2008)
GAO
April 3, 2020
This Week’s Top Story
DoD, Air Force Punt On New Space Acquisition Exec
Theresa Hitchens, Breaking Defense
No decision is being recommended on the hot-button issue of establishing a new space acquisition executive, a key congressionally-mandated part of reforming space acquisition, in a pair of studies to the Hill. Both studies are expected to be provided to Congress within days, DoD sources say.
Instead, the two studies — one from DoD Acquisition czar Ellen Lord and one from Air Force Secretary Barbara Barrett — will focus on near-term issues, such as setting up new requirements processes and how to better use the flexibility Congress has granted for applying current legal authorities, a DoD official said.
The delay in establishing the new post is not unexpected, as Breaking D has reported extensively. The Pentagon has until October 2022 under the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) to create the controversial post of a new acquisition executive for space.
The NDAA requires that the Air Force appoint a Senate-confirmed assistant secretary for space acquisition and integration. That person, the act said, “will “synchronize with the Air Force Service Acquisition Executive on all space system efforts, and take on Service Acquisition Executive responsibilities for space systems and programs effective on October 1, 2022.”
The new assistant secretary will also oversee the Space and Missile Systems Center, the Space Rapid Capabilities Office (SpRCO), and the Space Development Agency (SDA) — all of which currently have separate acquisition authorities and lines of oversight.
Therefore, DoD must establish the new space acquisition executive authority. Whether that post is wholly independent from the current Air Force acquisition chain is at the crux of the debate. Will Roper, the Air Force’s assistant secretary for acquisition, technology and logistics, is the current head of space acquisition.
Acquisition and Innovation
Raytheon-UTC merger wins approval, pending divestitures
Jill Aitoro, Defense News
DoD plan to classify spending plans gets thumbs down from almost everyone
Scott Maucione, Federal News Network
Space Force awards contracts worth as much as $1B for new modems
Mike Gruss, Defense News
Breaking the logjam: How the Pentagon can build trust with Congress
Michèle A. Flournoy and Gabrielle Chefitz
Why 2020 is the year the consumption model for IT takes hold
Jason Miller, Federal News Network
Pentagon turns to new buying tools 10 times more often
Aaron Mehta, Defense News
FAR Alert Notice in a Minute
Acquisition.gov
COVID-19 and Contracting
Navy Accelerating Contracts to Get Ahead of Upcoming Work to Address COVID-Related Program Disruptions
Megan Eckstein, USNI News
What the stimulus package means for federal acquisition (video)
Joe Jordan, Government Matters TV
There’s a Playbook for Implementing the CARES Act; Agencies Need to Follow It
Stan Soloway, Government Executive
COVID Response Delays Awards for GSA’s E-Commerce Platform Pilots
Aaron Boyd, NextGov
MHS Genesis deployment suspended amid COVID-19 pandemic
Adam Mazmanian, FCW
Pentagon Taps Four Contractors to Build 8,000 Ventilators
Anthony Capaccio, Bloomberg
DoD’s top watchdog will lead pandemic response oversight
Andrew Eversden, Federal Times
Section 809 Panel Updates
ARP is tracking the implementation status of the 98 recommendations produced by the Section 809 Panel. You will find recent posts about that effort here, and you can read more about it on our website.
Thornberry Reform Proposals. Expanding Acquisition Reform: Requirements, Sustainment, Accountability, and the Industrial Base
House Armed Services Committee
Sustainment Strategy: Previous reform efforts required DOD to develop individual life cycle sustainment plans during the acquisition milestone process. This proposal will expand that effort, by requiring DOD to look “horizontally” across all sustainment strategies- via a comprehensive sustainment strategy- in order to synchronize and streamline them. Required every four years, the proposal also establishes an independent sustainment advisory panel modeled after the successful “809 Panel” to make recommendations on streamlining and synchronizing the weapons sustainment ecosystem.
Further Streamlining Title 10: One of the most significant and impactful recommendations of the 809 Panel is to streamline Title 10 with a focus on reorganizing the acquisition statutes. The framework for the reorganization was enacted in the FY19 NDAA. This proposal takes the next step by moving the definitions to a new location and opening the door to complete this recommendation.
Thornberry unveils Pentagon reform package
Aaron Mehta, Defense News
Policy and Regulatory Updates
Beta Release of Regulations.gov
Memorandum on Order Under the Defense Production Act Regarding the Purchase of Ventilators
White House
DoDI 5000.73, "Cost Analysis Guidance and Procedures" (March 13, 2020)
Congress
Lawmakers look to shield defense contractors from COVID-19 fallout
Lauren C. Williams, FCW
Smith Statement on Continued COVID Precautions and the FY21 NDAA
House Armed Services Committee
The Committee has postponed the previously scheduled mark up of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021. A new mark up date will be announced at a later time.
Research
Modly Announces First President of Naval Community College
Seapower Magazine
High Marks for NPS in Annual Grad School Rankings
Nathan K. Serpico, Naval Postgraduate School
What Is a College Education in the Time of Coronavirus?
Richard Arum and Mitchell L. Stevens, New York Times
Intellectual Property (IP) and Data Rights Community of Practice
Defense Acquisition University
March 27, 2020
Acquisition and Innovation
James ‘Hondo’ Geurts on Taking the Navy into the Next Wave of Innovation
The Innovators Network
Trump administration must produce 5G security strategy under new law
Andrew Eversden, Fifth Domain
Amazon Denounces DoD JEDI ‘Do-Over’
Breaking Defense
Army, Navy Hypersonic Test Clears Way for Weapon Development
John A. Tirpak, Air Force Magazine
GSA awards $17 million task order
Andrew Eversden, Federal Times
Work continues on CMMC rollout amid coronavirus disruption
Jackson Barnett, Fedscoop
Navy reforming its IT security processes to approve new systems in a day
Jared Serbu, Federal News Network
Covid-19 and Contracting
Navy Monitoring Acquisition Programs For Signs of Disruptions from COVID Pandemic
Megan Eckstein, USNI
Higher easy acquisition thresholds help the pivot to telework
Mark Rockwell, FCW
DoD and Congress using incentives, extra funds and other policies to keep defense companies cash positive
Scott Maucione, Federal News Network
Covid-19 Authorities, Contract Vehicles, and Initiatives
MITRE
DOD Takes Steps to Protect Defense Industry Amid Coronavirus Pandemic
John A. Tirpak, Air Force Magazine
Roper: Defense Acquisition in ‘Uncharted Territory’
John A. Tirpak, Air Force Magazine
Partnering With the U.S. Defense Industrial Base to Combat COVID-19
DOD Press Release
Section 809 Panel Updates
ARP is now tracking the implementation status of the 98 recommendations produced by the Section 809 Panel. You will find recent posts about that effort here, and you can read more about it on our website.
GAO found that shipbuilding programs’ requirements for sustainment reflect weaknesses with how Department of Defense (DOD) policy defines these requirements for ships. GAO also found that shipbuilding programs did not consistently address sustainment risks in acquisition planning documents. … The Section 809 Panel similarly found that the acquisition program baseline (APB) does not provide sufficient governance of the sustainment phase of an acquisition program since it is focused on acquisition cost, schedule, and performance goals. The panel further noted that program success has been measured against the achievement of the APB’s acquisition goals, so program managers have generally prioritized the achievement of acquisition outcomes and deemphasized sustainment.
Cost Accounting Standards Board Meeting Agenda: Application of CAS to indefinite delivery vehicles (IDVs) and hybrid contracts
Federal Register Notice
The Board will revisit recommendations pertaining to the treatment of indefinite delivery vehicles (IDVs) and hybrid contracts made by the Advisory Panel on Streamlining Acquisition Regulations established by section 809 of the FY 2016 National Defense Authorization Act (the Panel). In its June 2018 report, the Panel recommended that the Board amend its regulations to state that the CAS applicability determination be made separately for each order, rather than at the time the IDV contract is first awarded. The Panel suggested that this clarification can help to avoid confusion caused by inclusion of the CAS clause “based on the prospect (however unlikely) of obtaining certified cost or pricing data at order placement.” For hybrid contracts, the Panel recommended that the CAS exemption be applied to any portion of a contract or subcontract where CAS would not apply if that portion were awarded as a separate contract or subcontract.
Policy and Regulatory Updates
OMB Memorandum M-20-17: Harnessing Technology to Support Mission Continuity
Defense Pricing and Contracting Covid-19 Announcements
Congress
Smith, Thornberry Introduce “By Request” Bill and Begin FY21 National Defense Authorization Act Process
House Armed Services Committee
Senate Moves to Written Q&A for Defense Hearings
Rachel S. Cohen, Air Force Magazine
Research
Five Misunderstandings about Case-Study Research
SSRN
Congressional Research Service Reports: Defense Primers
Federation of American Scientists
NPS Continues Prep to Start Spring Quarter Classes Online
Naval Postgraduate School