Defense budget reform in Senate’s draft FY21 NDAA
The bill pays particular attention to how the Pentagon manages its substantial budget and implements numerous provisions designed to streamline work, expand the ability of […]
PPBE process
Budget reform reference guide
For years, I’ve been arguing that the budget process is the single most important problem of acquisition reform. We still have in place what is […]
Has program budgeting failed the world over?
Program budgeting does not work anywhere in the world it has been tried. The reason for this failure can be deduced backward. What would it […]
One of the last vestiges of central planning left on Earth
Here’s a humorous story shared by SecDef Donald Rumsfeld back in 2001: A man and a boy were walking down the street with a donkey […]
Can the Air Force scale small companies into a program of record?
Remember the dreaded “valley of death” in technology transition? The Air Force plans to bridge the valley by progressively scaling up its pitch days. A […]
How should budget appropriations be reorganized?
Congress should reorganize appropriations titles (the “color of money”) to reflect the kind of life cycle a thing has, not what part of the life […]
Is the PPBE process the root cause of test & eval failures?
Again and again in briefings and conferences I am asked: “What are the major problems in T&E [Test & Evaluation]?” I think there is really […]
Software requires a faster funding process
The DOD’s process for obtaining funding for new acquisition programs typically takes multiple years. To address a DOD capability shortfall, the shortfall must be linked […]
Capt. Mark Vandroff (ret.) on people, process, and delegation
I was pleased to have Mark Vandroff speak with me on the Acquisition Talk podcast. He served 30 years in the US Navy before retiring […]
How the Army budget process works
Contrary to what one might expect from the budget process, most of the actual horse-trading happens at a higher level inside the Pentagon during a […]