DoD tech transition funding was *much* bigger in the 1950s
Prior to fiscal year 1951 there was no provision at the Secretary of Defense level for funding departmental emergency research and development needs. In other […]
Blog Posts
DHS PIL finds oral presentations not working as expected in GovCon
One of the two main innovation ideas is to use “advisory downselects” to give offerors information prior to a full-blown proposal about whether they are […]
How did the US Air Force become the smallest, oldest it’s ever been?
John Baum: Why do we now have the smallest, oldest Air Force in our nation’s history? What does this mean for the future? Mark […]
Experts misguiding innovation in the age of ballistic missiles
Actually, the vital ingredients of a medium-range ballistic missile were mostly within reach by 1947, excepting a nuclear warhead and proven means of warhead reentry, […]
Podcast: Risk, Cost, and Project Management with Christian Smart
Christian Smart joined me on the Acquisition Talk podcast to discuss his new book, Solving for Project Risk Management. He is the chief scientist at […]
Transcripts: Risk, cost, and project management with Christian Smart
Eric Lofgren: [00:00:00] I’m speaking with Christian smart today, who is the chief scientist at Galorath federal, and his new book is called solving for […]
DoD’s fixation on cost stifles its ability to innovate
Accounting scholars Baruch Lev and Feng Gu found that the value of tangible assets and earnings explained more than 80% of companies’ value when entering […]
Acquisition headlines (12/6 – 12/12/2020)
CSAF Brown’s “Accelerate Change or Lose” Action Orders Could Drive Changes to FY-22 POM. (Inside Defense) Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Brown today released […]
Don’t be fooled by the DoD’s readiness figures
When the DoD talks about the readiness of its aircraft it usually cites mission capable rates. But is that what DoD analysts actually use when […]
Aesop’s guide to Acquisition Laws
The following is a sample from John Krieger’s excellent article in NCMA Magazine. There’s more at the link. I’ll forgo the indentation in the quotes […]
The national security implications of crypto, and a strategy to counter China
The US has this really amazing strategic asset in the US dollar. If you look at borrowing and lending in the world, how trade is […]
How DoD policy-making became over-simplified
So the program budget may become, not an information system, but an approved five-year plan that serves as an instrument of control. This arrangement can […]
Podcast: Digital acquisition with Bryon Kroger and Matt Nelson
Bryon Kroger and Matt Nelson joined me on the Acquisition Talk podcast to talk about digital transformation in the Department of Defense. They are the […]
Are we at a crisis point in acquisition reform?
Francis Rose: Every uniformed official that I ever hear anything from talks about speed… When there’s legislative language that proposes exactly the opposite, is working […]
Acquisition headlines
Current Army budget may make modernizing more difficult. “… they talk about 31-plus-three initiatives that are moving along, and that will, at some point, produce […]