Author Description

Acquisition reform has been a topic of discussion ever since the first piece of equipment was purchased by the government. Today, there is a big push to not only transform the military establishment but the acquisition system that supports the military. This paper addresses the need to transform the acquisition process by first looking into the historical attempts of correcting problems. From this review, the major participants in the process, Congress, the defense establishment, and contractors, are analyzed regarding their roles in the present problems. The analysis indicated past attempts to reform typically address one or two participants and the processes they control rather than a complete reform of the process. This paper concludes that to adequately reform the acquisition system all parts must be transformed from their present states to a new one that is completely different from what is seen today.