Achieving Life Cycle Capability: Ensuring Capability for Today and Tomorrow

Abstract

In the article Achieving Outcomes-Based Life Cycle Management (Defense Acquisition Review Journal, Vol. 17, January 2009), the authors traced the history of DoD acquisition reform efforts and highlighted the dramatic geo-political changes that impact the acquisition process. The authors provided three recommendations to enhance US life cycle agility and affordability to posture the DoD life cycle processes to meet the demands of the 21st Century: Effects-based requirements, Commercially driven research and development, and Outcome-based partnership life cycle product support. Since that effort, the DoD and Congress have moved forward with several policy-level efforts, directed towards enhancing accountability and agility over the life cycle, including: Weapon System Acquisition Reform Act implementation, Insourcing, Product Support Assessment Team, National Defense Authorization Act, Section 805, and HASC Panel on Defense Acquisition Reform This paper reviews those recent policy efforts and assesses the potential impact of those efforts on the inherent, structural incentives that are embedded in DoD life cycle processes. The paper provides several recommendations for policy implementation to further enable life cycle agility and affordability.