Now, as the Army's cross-functional teams and the Army Futures Command come online, we have a seat at the table to help generate aggressive yet viable requirements before executing them. If something doesn't look right from an acquisition perspective, we have the responsibility to make our voices heard.
We must create an environment in which teaming, agility and rapid user feedback are integrated early to improve the decision-making process and overall program success. Close and continued collaboration with the cross-functional teams as well as our stakeholders in industry will be critically important in delivering capabilities to Soldiers-fast.
This requires good leaders to be good mentors who outline acceptable and unacceptable risk, then patiently grow subordinates. If you find there are ways to accelerate a program, let leadership know. If you find policies that are cumbersome or don't make sense, tell someone so we can correct them.
To increase competition, decrease costs and gain access to innovative technologies, we are seeking to leverage the talent of small, aggressive companies with revolutionary approaches to the challenges we face. Private sector innovation, especially from nontraditional sources, is critical to the Army's future.
In testimony to Congress on two occasions, I stated that there are about 5,000 government contractors but about 23 million corporations in the United States. We must make it attractive to do business with us. At the assistant secretary of the Army for acquisition, logistics and technology, we are working to develop new outreach programs like a "Shark Tank" as a catalyst for the Army to engage with the nontraditional business sector, and to create mechanisms that greatly simplify the process for a small business doing their first business with us.
In the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2016, Congress provided authority for the Department of Defense to use alternative processes to foster innovation, including establishing a "middle tier" of acquisition programs to rapidly prototype and field programs within two to five years. With this authority, there is significant flexibility compared with the Joint Capabilities Integration and Development System process and "DOD Instruction 5000.02, Operation of the Defense Acquisition System." Rapid prototyping can lead to rapid acquisition. Let's take advantage of this authority wherever possible.
A well-planned other transaction authority can facilitate this transition. We are also exploring other innovative contracting methodologies such as cost-plus, fixed-price incentive fee, and other options, including the right contracting mix for the work we are trying to accomplish. It is important to know contracting and your contracting officer well. It is, ultimately, the program manager's responsibility.
A ready and modernized Army is critical to defend the nation. We must continue to improve our acquisition process, and for that we will continue to depend on our people-the Army's greatest asset.
This article was published in the July - September 2018 issue of Army AL&T magazine.