Understanding Defense Acquisition Workforce Challenges

Abstract

The DoD is heavily burdened by bureaucratic processes, policies, and culture that prevent it from effectively exploiting leading technologies for military advantage. Former Defense Secretary Carter proclaimed that the DoD has a strategic imperative to innovate, with speed and agility the key factors, and championed investment in agile, innovative organizational structures/constructs. He chartered the Defense Innovation Board, composed of executives from the leading Silicon Valley companies and academia, to infuse innovation in the DoD. General Selva, Vice Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, says the DoD is not organized for innovation and needs more operational experimentation. These expectations are lofty given the trajectory of the acquisition workforce. To achieve the success metrics established by DoD leadership, the DoD must make fundamental changes at the workforce level. The workforce needs modern tools to maneuver through the acquisition system and fill the gaps left by the retiring experienced personnel. To meet demands to identify, develop, and integrate game-changing technologies for our warfighters to maintain a technical superiority, the DoD must focus attention on the acquisition workforce to ensure it can respond to the ever-changing threat environment and the associated demands.