Pentagon hires new software acquisition official 

Pentagon acquisition chief Ellen Lord has hired a new special assistant to help transition the Defense Department to agile software development.

Lord told reporters at the Pentagon today that Jeff Boleng will be the Defense Department’s new special assistant for software acquisition. He currently serves as acting chief technology officer at Carnegie Mellon University Software Engineering Institute.

Boleng previously served 21 years in the Air Force as a cyberspace operations officer and a software engineer.

In his new role, which he will assume April 16, Boleng will formulate the department's software acquisition strategy and advise DOD leadership.

Lord said Boleng will spend 90 percent of his time on the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, the Pentagon's largest acquisition program.

She has previously said that agile software development is a critical weakness for DOD.

The Defense Science Board recently released a report urging DOD to “immediately” adopt a more agile software posture.