Program Executive Offices from across the military departments and other DOD acquisition entities — including the Defense Innovation Unit, U.S. Special Operations Command and the Defense Health Agency — recently came together with OSD and Service acquisition leaders to discuss common challenges and solutions in delivering capability at speed and scale.
"The 2022 National Defense Strategy is a call to action for the acquisition community," said William LaPlante, Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment. "As we leverage the full range of authorities and tools Congress has given us in recent years, it's critical that we're sharing best practices and implementing lessons learned from broad, service-agnostic challenges."
The PEO Summit, facilitated by the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment and DAU, was held at DAU's Fort Belvoir campus. The summit provided attendees the opportunity to network and "share perspectives on a daunting list of important and evolving problems," DAU President Jim Woolsey said.
Four panel discussions aligned with the National Defense Strategy shaped the day:
- Using Middle Tier Acquisitions (MTAs) and transitioning to production
- Implementing lessons learned from DOD's support to Ukraine
- Applying flexible contracting authorities
- Delivering software at speed and scale
MTAs have provided a mechanism for the acquisition community to rapidly prototype or field capabilities within five years. In emphasizing the importance of getting to capability production at a scale that is meaningful on the battlefield, discussion highlighted several programs, such as the Army's M10 Booker Combat Vehicle and Space Development Agency's low earth orbit satellites, that have leveraged MTAs to accelerate acquisition timelines. In continuing to build on progress made since MTA authority was granted to DOD in the Fiscal Year 2016 National Defense Authorization Act, PEOs focused on best practices for incorporating sustainment, test, and evaluation earlier within accelerated timelines.
From the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, the acquisition community is observing the first high-volume fight in years — something that requires DOD to organize for speed and scale while shifting from business as usual. The Senior Integration Group — Ukraine was lauded as a model for teamwork and rapid decision-making for contracting, requirements development and funding alignment.
PEOs also discussed working with industry at all levels of the supply chain, as well as with allies and partners, to alleviate production bottlenecks and increase flexibility and resilience for future surge requirements. Several attendees noted that mobilization for World War II actually began years before U.S. entry into the war, with efforts like the Lend Lease Act positioning industry to more easily shift into wartime production. In addition to examining the impacts of acquisition lead times, the discussion focused on sustainment — both projecting support capabilities to theater and increasing opportunities for collaboration with allies and partners.
Service Procurement Executives likewise discussed the application of different contracting authorities, including how to inform and bring contracting into discussions earlier in the acquisition life cycle. While the range of available contracting authorities provide PEOs with flexibility to meet a program's unique needs and requirements, the panelists highlighted that one of the most important practices is determining the right contracting tool for the job. Examples from both the interagency response to COVID-19 and U.S. security assistance to Ukraine illustrated successful approaches for executing contracting actions more rapidly—often in only days or a few weeks.
Software delivery was the center of discussion during the event's final panel. PEOs shared their experiences incorporating agile design and updating existing waterfall-style software acquisitions. DOD's focus is shifting to a more iterative process designed to get capabilities into the hands of warfighters as quickly as possible. Topics addressed included the use of digital twins and how to quantify earned value from software acquisitions. There was a general agreement that DOD, collectively, needs to focus on upskilling the workforce with digital literacy on concepts beyond Agile, such as gaining a better understanding of cloud computing, networks and cybersecurity-related topics.
"What you all do as PEOs will be important for the next 50 years," LaPlante told attendees. "Today's wars and future wars are won and lost in program offices, and the teams you lead are vital to pacing the threat."
This was the first DOD-wide PEO Summit in several years, and LaPlante expressed that it will be a recurring event moving forward to maintain open dialogue, facilitate development of cross-service relationships, and ultimately improve acquisition outcomes.