2007-03-15: Ken Krieg Discusses Pentagon Procurement

Kenneth Krieg

Kenneth Krieg is the Pentagon’s Undersecretary Of Defense For Acquisition, Technology And Logistics, which puts him right on the hot seat for major military procurement decisions. On March 15, 2007, he had a press conference in which he offered a quick update on the work they’ve been doing and took questions. Key issues included:

How to deal with an acquisition workforce of about 134,000, 85% of which are civilians, and and most of whom are hired into specific camps, posts and stations around America, in a way that makes meaningful changes and makes sure things get done?

How to think more comprehensively about infrastructure investment that stands at about $44 billion per year on all elements of facilities: construction, base operating support, sustainment, etc?

How to bring the kinds of business process changes, measurement changes and performance changes that work well in the private sector, to the public sector? And how do you bring the principles of life-cycle management back into the acquisition and decision-making process so that you’re giving birth to programs that are reliable and maintainable over time [DID: the British have done very substantial and path-breaking work in both areas]?

He also took questions about:

• The KC-X aerial tanker program, and the thinking behind the recent RFP.

• The CSAR-X helicopter program that was put into forced re-compete by the GAO, and their choice for its top criterion.

• The MRAP blast-resistant vehicle program, and whether he wanted to slow it down.

• The Littoral Combat Ship program.

• The role of Lead Systems Integrators in programs like Future Combat systems, which he openly described as a procurement experiment to see if they could improve certain issues DoD had traditionally faced.

• Issues of contractor award fees and incentive structures, making sure they were paid only for success.

• Consolidation of support functions.

• The critical differences between the Pentagon’s mission and a business that make it hard to just “run it more like a business,” even as they try to bring in some improved processes from the private sector.

Read the entire transcript: “DoD News Briefing With Undersecretary Of Defense For Acquisition, Technology And Logistics Mr. Ken Krieg From the Pentagon.”