Are we overthinking the DoD’s valley of death problem?
Here’s an interesting exchange from the Feb 9, 2023 House Armed Services Committee hearing on the future of war between Representative Ro Khanna and Christian […]
PPBE
Podcast: No time to waste for defense innovation with BMNT’s Pete Newell
I was pleased to have Pete Newell back on the Acquisition Talk podcast to discuss the urgency of getting innovative defense prototypes into the field […]
The incredible decline of DoD execution flexibility has created the so-called “valley of death”
Here are some excerpts from our recent report at Mason GovCon, Execution Flexibility and Bridging the Valley of Death. Caution: Just how much the purse […]
The mismatch between acquisition and resourcing, 5000.1 and PPBE
Here’s a slice from “The DSARC and PPBS decision making process within DOD” by Goral, Frank Ivan. Monterey, California. Naval Postgraduate School, Dec 1979. Remember, […]
The raging debate over Marine Corps Force Design 2030
John Schmitt starts his article: “The defining feature of the development US military policy is the tension that exists between the lessons of history and […]
DoD exported PPBE to Eastern Europe after the Cold War. Here’s how it went.
he budgeting method that has come to be known as the Planning, Programming, and Budgeting System (PPBS) – or Planning, Programming, Budgeting, and Execution (PPBE) […]
Why can’t acquisition embrace military concepts of mission command?
Here’s an excerpt from Marine Corps Doctrinal Publication 6, Command and Control: As with decision making, we should decentralize execution planning to the lowest possible […]
Is the Air Force heading back to paralysis by analysis in weapons choice?
Here’s Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall quoted in a recent Space News article, speaking about problems in current acquisition: “Overall, we start more […]
GAO: To keep up with surging Congressional reporting, DoD should modernize
The Department of Defense is required to report to Congress on an array of national security topics each year. The number of new reporting requirements […]
Podcast: Injecting tech in today’s weapons with Maj. Gen. John Ferrari (ret.)
I was pleased to have John Ferrari join me on the Acquisition Talk podcast to discuss a wide range of issues facing DoD’s ability to […]
Commercial tech, “fast follower” strategies, and a framework for rapid acquisition
Here’s a flash talk with DIU’s Mike Brown at the Aspen Security Forum: There are so many innovations in the commercial sector that could be […]
Does blackboard economics translate to defense decisions?
Here’s an indication of the kind of thinking that predominated the post-WWII world, as expressed by Alain Enthoven who was ASD Systems Analysis in 1966: […]
Risk mitigation and the question of Chinese anti-stealth radar
Here’s the excellent Chad Millette, the chief learning officer at Space System Command, on LinkedIn: Eric Lofgren, you suggest in reference to the story about […]
JADC2, PPBE, and the mission integration challenge
Here’s a bit from Gen. Hawk Carlisle (ret.) at a Hudson Institute event discussing JADC2/mission integration with Brian Clark and Dan Patt: How you design, […]
Getting out of an acquisition system based on predictability and compliance
Jared Serbu: You already have the problem of DoD having the build a budget that they are not going to execute on for another two […]