The issue of centralized control in defense budgeting
In assessing change many observers are inclined to stress the more dramatic shifts in policy or even the stated goals of policy. They are perhaps […]
History
Spoon-feeding the military: how industry wins contracts
Here are some good quotes about how defense firms marketed programs to the DOD in the 1960s: For, as one representative remarked, “… the day […]
Solving defense problems with Sophomore economics
Some confusion appears to exist about the relationship between quantitative analysis and subjective judgment in the practice of systems analysis. Partly responsible is the improper […]
In memory of Ernest Fitzgerald
Ernie Fitzgerald, described in the pages of the Washington Post as “America’s best-known whistle blower,” was also “the most hated person in the Air Force,” according to Verne Orr, secretary of […]
AAF budget execution during WWII
The disparity between the two columns in Table 15 requires explanation. Funds appropriated in one year may be spent in that year, in subsequent years, […]
Packard on workforce training
In most cases, it still is necessary for a project manager to get a decision by making his recommendations through several layers of hierarchy in […]
Prediction problems in the acquisition process
The Divad gun program was authorized to use for its procurement an accelerated unconventional acquisition strategy which was approved at a 1977 DSARC meeting when […]
Never underestimate the program budget’s impact
Never underestimate the impact of the program budget process.
The ineffectiveness of cost-effectiveness analyses
Cost Operational Effectiveness Analyses (COEA). The COEA done for the major Army projects are of spotty quality and in some cases non-existent. What should be […]
A bureaucrat to be crushed: the story of Gordon Rule
When the company officials had been asked to leave the room, the admiral in charge of shipbuilding told Warner the contractor’s demand for an extra $10‐million on the spot and $4‐million soon afterward was reasonable and ought to be paid. But then a ruddy, expensively but conservatively dressed civilian interrupted. “Admiral,” he said, “over my dead body will you reform that contract and give them $10‐million. This is the goddamnedest thing I ever heard of, a contractor coming in and throwing a piece of paper on the table and saying that to the Navy.”
Rickover slams the Laird/Packard Reforms
In my opinion the present situation in this regard is worse than I have ever seen it. Further, I predict that the way the present bureaucracy would implement your [Packard’s] proposed directive will make matters still worse.
Incrementalism vs. comprehensive rationality
The philosophy of incrementalism was itself a reaction to the comprehensive rationality of the rational-deductive model of decision-making utilized in economic theory. This model posits […]
David Packard pitches prototyping
There are two practices which have consistently led to excessive costs and unsatisfactory results in the development and procurement of weapons systems. One is the excessive reliance on paper studies and paper analysis. The other problem is the concurrency between development and production.
Haunted by the spectre of over-study in weapon needs
At OSD level, they really don’t do much systems analysis. What they do mostly, endlessly and in almost excruciating detail is weapon requirements analysis. Summed […]
Fighter Mafia emphasizes simplicity of design
Pierre Sprey testifying to Congress in December 1971: … it is possible to increase complexities of a weapons system to a point where it is […]