Thursday, April 25, 2024
Thursday, April 25, 2024
The Pentagon's acquisition and sustainment organization has shed employees and direct-reporting offices under the final reorganization plan approved earlier this month, according to Under Secretary of Defense for A&S Ellen Lord.
The reorganization formally began on Feb. 1 with the disestablishment of the USD for acquisition, technology and logistics into two new organizations: Lord's A&S office and an office of the USD for research and engineering, a position currently held by former NASA Administrator Mike Griffin.
On July 13, Deputy Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan approved the final reorganization plan that sets the hierarchy for both A&S and R&E.
During a roundtable with reporters at the Pentagon today, Lord described how her organization has been pared down.
Eight offices now report to A&S, whereas it was originally 17 offices and two agencies, according to Lord. Additionally, she said one assistant secretary of defense and five deputy assistant secretary of defense positions have been eliminated.
The A&S organization is reducing its civilian workforce from 353 to 233 and its military positions from 61 to 42, according to Lord.
"One of the things I found when I came on board is that the organization had evolved over time in response to the environment, to individuals, to different things happening," she said. "What I really did was step back and took a look at the body of work we do and tried to organize around that body of work to simplify and streamline. That's what my primary focus is -- to simplify, speed up and get the cost out of everything we do."
Additionally, Lord said carrying out the reorganization is now allowing the Pentagon to begin piloting the new acquisition authorities granted by Congress in recent years, including other transaction agreements and a middle tier of acquisition enabled by rapid prototyping. Last week, one of Lord's top deputies made a similar point.
Lord said A&S is shifting from "primarily an oversight role to an enabling role."