Military procurement processes are costing taxpayers and getting in the way of progress.
While I might not go so far as to pen an open letter to President Donald Trump, consider this a note for anyone with a need to know how the procurement process works for defining and moving ahead on military expenditures. It’s safe to say the behemoth process borders on the absurd and wastes millions of taxpayer dollars.
“Officials will define a problem and how to solve it with incremental solutions and can miss tapping advanced next-generation capabilities.”
There are two types of government procurement issues many might find infuriating and prevent warfighters from getting the best industry offers. The two problem areas include the small business set-aside and the absurdity of asking for revolutionary capabilities but telling businesses how to do it using an evolutionary process.
Adm. Harry Harris, USN, commander of U.S. Pacific Command, delivers a keynote address at West 2017 in San Diego, saying the U.S. military needs more “exponential thinking” among its ranks.
Both procedures just get in the way of progress.
Ben Sharfi’s latest guest post is live at Signal magazine. Read the full post there and see why today’s regulations can add millions to the government’s bill, and how procurement practices limit the vision and capabilities of suppliers.
