An Analysis of Procurement Acquisition Lead Time (PALT) and Acquisition Lead Time (ALT) in the Department of Defense (DoD)

Abstract

We evaluate the Department of Defense (DOD) Procurement Acquisition Lead Time (PALT), as it produces a vital role toward the fielding weapon systems to support our warfighters at the speed of relevance. We examine the roles of the contracting processes and associated PALT by gaining knowledge based off previous topic-related research including but not limited to: peer-review articles, theses, governing regulations, and real-life PALT data provided by a Naval Surface Warfare Center. We discuss the impact on actual real-world situations such as political agendas and worldwide events similar to the pandemic, and how it plays a role on PALT today and the influence that may arise as a nation. We studied the acquisition professional’s duties at the higher-level DOD Program Objective Memorandum (POM) and the Planning, Programming, Budgeting, and Execution (PPBE) process. From this analysis, we developed recommendations for acquisition professionals to effectively and efficiently navigate within the constraint of the POM and PPBE five-year cycle.