University of Maryland Research Report Addresses Federal Acquisitions

COLLEGE PARK, Md., Sept. 8, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- In order to achieve acquisition reform, U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) must address challenges in four areas: what is acquired (the requirements process), how it is acquired (the acquisition process), who acquires it (the acquisition workforce), and from whom it is acquired (the defense industrial base).

That's the message of a new report that examines needed reforms to the DoD's Acquisition System recently released by researchers at the University of Maryland's Center for Public Policy and Private Enterprise (CPPPE) within the School of Public Policy.

This timely and critical report focuses on the continuing challenges faced by the DoD, and makes recommendations on how they can be overcome. The goal of the report is to educate, inform, and encourage meaningful reforms that will make lasting improvements to the DoD's acquisition system. 

This report was completed by the CPPPE under the leadership of Professor and Roger C. Lipitz Chair in Public Policy and Private Enterprise Dr. Jacques S. Gansler, former Under Secretary of Defense (AT&L) and Interim Director and Sr. Research Scholar William Lucyshyn. This research and report was partially funded by the Lockheed Martin Corporation.

The Department of Defense has pursued acquisition reform for decades in an effort to address persistent cost and schedule growth across major programs. Although countless reforms have been proposed and implemented, headline-grabbing incidences of waste, fraud, and abuse have attracted the attention of Congress and the American public. While some previous reforms have had a meaningful impact, many others have proven to be less effective. Despite all of these initiatives, cost and schedule growth continue; median cost growth for system initiated between 1970 and 2011 was 44% for Army programs, 30% for Navy programs, and 31% for Air Force programs. Significant reforms can help the DoD achieve its objective of rapid, affordable acquisition of systems, capable of meeting current and future challenges within the constraints of the current budgetary environment.  

The UMD CPPPE researchers who authored the report received valuable guidance and support from a Senior Advisory Group (SAG) of former DoD officials. The group consisted of the following members:

• General James Cartwright (Ret.), former Commander, U.S. Strategic Command, and 8^th Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff;
• Dr. John Hamre, former Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller), served as the 26^th Deputy Secretary of Defense, and current President and CEO of the Center for Strategic and International Studies;
• General Paul A. Kern (Ret.), former Commanding General of the Army Materiel Command, former President and COO of AM General, and current Senior Counselor with The Cohen Group;
• Deidre A. Lee, former Administrator of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy, former Director of Defense Procurement and Acquisition Policy, and current Vice President for Operations at the Fluor Government Group;
• William J. Lynn III, former Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller), served as the 30^th Deputy Secretary of Defense, former Senior Vice President for Government Relations and Strategy at the Raytheon Company, and current CEO of Finmeccanica North America and DRS Technologies, Inc.

About the University of Maryland's Center for Public Policy and Private Enterprise:

The Center for Public Policy and Private Enterprise provides the strategic linkage between the public and private sector to develop and improve solutions to increasingly complex problems associated with the delivery of public services—a responsibility increasingly shared by both sectors. Operating at the nexus of public and private interests, the Center researches, develops, and promotes best practices; develops policy recommendations; and strives to influence senior decision-makers toward improved government and industry results. The Center for Public Policy and Private Enterprise is a research Center within the University of Maryland's School of Public Policy.

SOURCE University of Maryland Center for Public Policy and Private Enterprise