Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Technology
Paul G. Kaminski led defense acquisition personnel today in a
world-wide observance of a DoD Acquisition Reform Day. Unlike
many other recent stand-downs, Kaminski explained that this was a
good news storyoperations suspended to consolidate gains and
take better advantage of opportunities made possible by newly
implemented reforms.
In a local Pentagon courtyard ceremony, Kaminski set the
theme for the day by observing, This is not the end of our work
in acquisition reform, or even the beginning of the end. I do
think, though, that today marks the end of the beginning. He
cited the significant progress made to change the way the
Department procures systems and services, including new reform
legislation enacted by the Congress: the Federal Acquisition
Streamlining Act of 1994 and the Federal Acquisition Reform Act
of 1996; new DoD acquisition regulationsDoD Directive 5000.1 and
DoD Regulation 5000.2-R; and key policy initiatives on the use of
military specifications or standards and the Single Process
Initiative.
Kaminski said he chose to hold this day now because many
reforms are in place and evidence of success is beginning to
mount on thousands of small purchases and major programs like the
Joint Direct Attack Munition, the C-17 airlifter and SMART-T
satellite terminals. Over the course of the day, commanders and
supervisors sat down with their acquisition workers to discuss
policy changes; share best practices; and obtain feedback on what
is working, not working, or needs improvement.
The purpose of the day was to accelerate efforts to
implement reforms with more consistency across the Department's
broad and diverse defense acquisition establishment. Kaminski
explained that the Department of Defense still has a long way to
go when it comes to uniform implementation of acquisition
reforms. Kaminski, his Principal Deputy Noel Longuemare, and
Deputy Under Secretary for Acquisition Reform Colleen Preston
attended some of the Acquisition Reform Day activities within the
Washington, D.C., area, participating in the discussions and
obtaining direct feedback from the workforce. Dr. Kaminski's
schedule
included visits to meetings hosted by Lieutenant General O'Neill
at the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization, and by each of the
three Service acquisition executivesMr. Gil Decker (Army), Mr.
John Douglass (Navy) and Mr. Art Money (Air Force).
Effective, consistent implementation of a broad acquisition
reform program is vitally important to the Department and a top
priority for me and Secretary of Defense William Perry.
Acquisition reform savings are needed for pressing defense
modernization priorities and for providing the nation's
warfighters what they need, when they need it, at an affordable
cost, Kaminski said.
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