Acquisition | The Contracting Education Academy

April 24, 2019 By AMK

2019 NDAA analysis: A harder look at major defense acquisitions

This is the sixth blog post in a series analyzing the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) as signed into law on Aug. 13, 2018. Stay tuned for more blog posts covering additional topics in the near future from Holland & Knight’s Government Contracts Team.

With the 2019 NDAA, Congress has put teeth behind recommendations stemming from an independent study on sustainment planning in the Defense acquisition process. Reflecting congressional concern with the sustainment and total life-cycle costs of major defense acquisition programs, Section 844 of the 2017 NDAA had required the Secretary of Defense, through an agreement with an independent entity, to conduct a review of the extent to which sustainment matters are considered in decisions related to the requirements, research and development, acquisition, cost estimating, and programming and budgeting processes for major defense acquisition programs.

The 2019 NDAA directs the Secretary of Defense to “commence implementation of each recommendation submitted” as part of this independent assessment, or provide Congress with a “specific justification” for the delayed implementation or non-implementation of a recommendation. Where the Defense Secretary is opting not to implement one of these recommendations, he or she must provide “a summary of the alternative actions the Secretary plans to take to address the purposes underlying the recommendation.”

Keep reading this article at: http://www.mondaq.com/article.asp?articleid=795216

March 29, 2019 By cs

DoD acquisition office saw workforce reduction, job changes despite assurances

The Defense Department’s Office of Acquisition and Sustainment differs more from its predecessor than anyone expected when DoD set out to split its acquisition office and reorganize the pieces back in February.

Assistant Secretary of Defense for Acquisition Kevin Fahey said the changes, including a large workforce reduction, have been in service of innovation and speedier acquisition.

For one thing, back in February, Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Ellen Lord said that there were no plans for a workforce reduction. But Fahey said at the Professional Services Council’s Oct. 29 Vision 2018 event, as part of the reorganization, he cut his workforce by 40 percent.

Lord also said in February that the workforce would not see changes in title, series or grade. Again, what Fahey had to say after the fact differed significantly.

“Reorganizations are really hard, because everybody’s belief is ‘change is good, just leave me the hell alone,’ right? So, as you can imagine, all the people that were in [Acquisition, Technology and Logistics] were all for the reorganization, as long as you left them alone, and we couldn’t leave them alone,” Fahey said. “One thing I did, which is the right thing to do, but makes it harder, is in my organization, I changed every single job. I did that purposely. I didn’t want anyone to think that they were doing the same job they were doing before we reorganized. So everybody in my organization got a letter telling them what their new job was and who their new supervisor was, which I think was the right thing to do.”

Keep reading this article at: https://federalnewsnetwork.com/defense-main/2018/11/dod-acquisition-office-saw-workforce-reduction-job-changes-despite-assurances/

October 4, 2018 By cs

Agencies need in-house techies to know how to buy good tech, GAO reiterates

Spend enough time around personnel from tech-in-government organizations like 18F and the U.S. Digital Service, and you’ll hear them say something like this: Their teams save the taxpayers money not just by building things, but also by being in the room during large-scale tech acquisitions and knowing the right questions to ask or how to call a salesman’s bluff.

It’s a simple value proposition, leaders say, but a powerful one.

According to a recent Government Accountability Office report, the federal acquisitions workforce writ large needs more of that expertise.

Asked to survey how the acquisition landscape has changed in the past decade, GAO found various improvements in the form of workforce planning and training. But ultimately, it decided, “finding workers with the technical knowledge for complex IT purchases is still difficult.”

Keep reading this article at: https://www.fedscoop.com/federal-agencies-tech-expertise-acquisition-gao-report/

March 1, 2018 By cs

Here’s how the Marines’ cyber warriors are buying new equipment

The service cyber components that feed up to Cyber Command are responsible to man, train and equip their cyber warriors, meaning each service ends up using their own acquisition and service-specific models to do so.

While Cyber Command possesses limited acquisition authority, this capability is nascent meaning the individual services still are charged with equipping their cyber forces based upon minimum operating capabilities operating capabilities Cyber Command’s Capabilities Development Group outlines.

Marine Corps Forces Cyberspace Command does not possess direct acquisition authority and so they have to work through a variety of vectors including other commands within the service to procure both offensive and defensive capabilities.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.fifthdomain.com/dod/marine-corps/2018/02/21/heres-how-the-marines-cyber-warriors-are-procuring-equipment/

January 8, 2018 By cs

‘Surprising capabilities’ guru tapped to lead Air Force acquisition

The Pentagon’s buyer-in-chief, who aims to improve overall military acquisition by mimicking its non-traditional weapons shops, is about to get some major help. That’s because the president today nominated Will Roper, the founding director of the secretive Strategic Capabilities Office, to become the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition.

Created in 2012, SCO helps the services modify existing arms and gear to produce “surprising new capabilities,” as then-Defense Secretary Ash Carter put it. Its best-known success stories are swarming Perdix micro-drones and an altered SM-6 missile that could sink ships.

Roper’s office — or perhaps, Roper himself — drew the eye of Ellen Lord, Trump’s first defense undersecretary for acquisition, technology and logistics. Last month, Lord brought him along to a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on acquisition reform, and pointed him out as she answered senators’ questions about her plans to speed up military purchasing.

**Relevant development, acquisition, and procurement agencies within the U.S. Air Force.**

Keep reading this article at: http://www.defenseone.com/business/2018/01/surprising-capabilities-guru-tapped-lead-air-force-acquisition/144940/

This is the sixth blog post in a series analyzing the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) as signed into law on Aug. 13, 2018. Stay tuned for more blog posts covering additional topics in the near future from Holland & Knight’s Government Contracts Team.

The Defense Department’s Office of Acquisition and Sustainment differs more from its predecessor than anyone expected when DoD set out to split its acquisition office and reorganize the pieces back in February.

The service cyber components that feed up to Cyber Command are responsible to man, train and equip their cyber warriors, meaning each service ends up using their own acquisition and service-specific models to do so.

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