Case study on the Joint Rapid Acquisition Cell (JRAC)

After the start of fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, each of the services and Central Command established processes for dealing with urgent requirements on the battlefield. These separate processes coalesced in July 2005 with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Instruction 3470.01 (CJCSI 3470.01), titled The Rapid Validation and Resourcing of Joint Urgent Operational Needs (JUON) in the Year of Execution.

Because JUONs can occur at any time and need quick resolution to meet military missions or reduce fatalities, DoD needed flexibility to move money around more quickly. The FY 2003 NDAA allowed the Secretary of Defense to waive any law or regulation to make sure such an urgent requirement gets put onto contract within 15 days, including reprogramming authority up to $100 million (so long as Congress is notified within 15 days). This is often referred to as “rapid acquisition authority” found in Section 806 of the FY2003 NDAA.

In 2004, the Deputy Secretary of Defense issued a memo that established the Joint Rapid Acquisition Cell (JRAC) which coordinate JUONs, work through solutions, and assigned procurement activities to the services. Most often, these JRAC-funded solutions were about $15 million, but could range up to $75 million or more. In 2006, the first year of significant JUONs totaling $620 million, the JRAC funded $155 million worth of actions.

While the JRAC didn’t have its own budget line item, it did help identify sources or reprogramming or use of flexible accounts like the Iraqi Freedom Fund. In FY 2009, Congress provided a “rapid acquisition fund” in procurement that provided additional dollars to address JUONs but was canceled soon after. But one case study from a 2006 report, Assessing the value of the Joint Rapid Acquisition Cell, shows that finding just $6 million was still a challenge even for immediate warfighter needs. I created a short timeline image below:

• On 14 February 2006, the Commander of Multi-National Forces Iraq (CO MNF-I) located in Baghdad, endorsed a memorandum for a JUON (Joint Urgent Operational Need) to fill a perceived gap in capabilities
• By 25 April 2006, the BA FCB finalized its validation of CC-0074 and its recommendations. The BA FCB recommendation was reviewed and approved by the JUON gatekeeper, Brigadier General Schmidle (J8 DDRA).
• As of 16 June 2006, there was uncertainty as to which organization would fund the IWN. The JRAC pressed on to formulate a new funding solution in order to resolve CC0074. On 8 August 2006, the JRAC convened to review CC-0074 and facilitate its resolution. This Action Memorandum requested the transfer of $6 million to the Air Force for acquisition of 150 units of Materiel X and designated the OSD(C) to provide notification to Congress five days prior to such transfer
• On 8 September 2006, Mr. Courington, in an e-mail to Mr. Rodney McMahon, notified the SAF/AQIJ office of final documentation required and that funding allocation and budgetary authority would be occurring the week of 11-15 September 2006 to allow contracting of Materiel X
• Rodney McMahon contacted Mr. Courington via e-mail on 27 September 2006 to indicate that 165 units of Materiel X had been contracted
• Earliest delivery, Jan 2007, complete delivery by May 2007