Management and Oversight of Services Acquisition Within the United States Air Force

Abstract

The purpose of this MBA project is to review policies and practices of the United States Air Force (USAF) in the area of service acquisition and oversight. Additionally, this research will discuss Government Accountability Office (GAO) concerns in the area of service acquisition and oversight. The survey employed herein was taken from a prior NPS MBA project (Meinshausen & Compton) and distributed to 50 Contracting Squadron Commanders across seven separate Air Force Major Commands (MAJCOMs). The researchers conducted the survey between mid-June to mid-July 2008 and received a 68% response rate. Our research shows that contracting officers are serving in the capacity as program managers for a majority of service acquisitions at the installation level. Additionally, this research shows that a majority of contracting squadron leadership identifies manning as a major issue for their organizations. The results of this project will be used for further research in the area of lifecycle management of service acquisitions.