DoD Stepping All Over Itself With Reforms

The Federal Times published an article this week on the plethora of reforms going on within DoD that are contradictory and have a propensity to undermine others. You can read the article here. First there was reform to ensure that contractors were not doing work that the Government should be doing. Then came a campaign to reduce reliance on contractors through in-sourcing. After that, the Secretary of Defense announced reforms to ferret out $100 billion in five years in excess overhead spending. In September, the Secretary  proposed measures to improve affordability and productivity. The article points out that the drive for affordability contradicts the campaign to reduce reliance on contractors and in-sourse work. Affordability, the Federal Times contends, means managing to cost and schedule, two things that government has never been good at but which are hallmarks of the American free enterprise system. (We're not so sure of that statement. Take a look at Lockheed's F-35 program - over budget and behind schedule and the company just had its EVMS certification withdrawn). Regardless, the article makes some very good points. You'll need a scorecard to track the progress of these reforms.