In This Story
In an Op-Ed written by Jerry McGinn for Breaking Defense, McGinn argues that the Pentagon can move more quickly if it heeds lessons from a previous life-or-death acquisition story.
The Pentagon has long worried over its ability to move at the speed of conflict, as entrenched acquisition processes can delay getting the right weapons to the right warfighters. In this op-ed, acquisition expert Jerry McGinn lays out how the Defense Department can improve, using one success story as a template -- the MRAP mindset.
Under Secretary of Defense Bill LaPlante outlined the strategy’s four major themes at the Reagan National Defense Forum – resilient supply chains, workforce readiness, flexible acquisition, and economic deterrence. The draft strategy shared with Congress and reported by some media outlets is a strong call to action, but the key of course will be how this strategy is implemented. Resources are part of the solution, but the success or failure of this effort principally hinges one of LaPlante’s themes: flexible acquisition, specifically DoD buying and contracting practices.
DoD must put our industrial base on a wartime footing or potentially face catastrophic consequences. Here’s how DoD can do that, using former Secretary of Defense Bob Gates’ experience with the Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicle as a guide.