Acquisition Reform

Shay Assad, the Pentagon's director of defense pricing, said recently that as the department eyes the next iteration of its "Better Buying Power" acquisition reform effort, defense officials must continue to focus on improving the acquisition workforce to support that reform. As Inside the Pentagon reported last month:

Improving the quality of the defense acquisition workforce -- although positive strides have been made -- remains the department's biggest single challenge in this reform arena, Assad told Inside the Pentagon in a May 22 interview.

"We've got a very capable and competent workforce, but to do the kinds of things that we want to do it takes a really well-trained professional workforce to accomplish that kind of work," Assad said, noting the department's Defense Acquisition Workforce Development Fund plays an important role in helping to improve on the training of the workforce. The fund was established in 2008 to help rebuild the defense acquisition workforce.

Although he declined to provide details on what Better Buying Power 3.0 might include, Assad stressed that workforce is an area that must be touched upon. He noted that the reform initiative is all about common sense, and he does not expect to see any major changes from the arenas previously introduced.

That same week, the Congressional Research Service issued a pair of reports on the Defense Department's acquisition process.

A May 23 report, "Defense Acquisitions: How DOD Acquires Weapon Systems," is an updated version of a primer issued on Jan. 2, 2013. This year's report has a slightly more detailed paragraph in the executive summary about oversight issues for lawmakers:

An oversight issue for Congress is the extent to which the Weapon Systems Acquisition Reform Act and the various DOD initiatives are having a positive effect on acquisitions, and what additional steps, if any, Congress can take to further the effort to improve defense acquisitions.

A separate May 23 CRS report more specifically deals with defense acquisition reform and the DOD workforce:

Oversight issues for Congress include the extent to which the Weapon System Acquisition Reform Act of 2009 (P.L. 111-23) and the various DOD initiatives are having a positive effect on acquisitions, whether current reform efforts are sufficient to address concerns related to the acquisition workforce, and what additional steps, if any, Congress can take to further the effort to improve defense acquisitions.

CRS does not publicly release its reports. Both of the above were originally obtained by Secrecy News.