The average Defense Department procurement project lasts at least 11 years-and outlasts four program managers, five program executive officers, eight service acquisition executives, five chairmen of the Joint Chiefs, seven secretaries of defense and three Presidents, Comptroller General David Walker said Wednesday.
Testifying before the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Readiness and Management Support, Walker said DoD has to reduce the time it takes to complete projects and reduce turnover in key management positions overseeing projects.
Turnover "makes it rather difficult to ensure accountability," Walker said, adding that managers who are assigned only temporary responsibility for projects tend to take an attitude of "Let's make sure nothing goes wrong on my watch."
Walker suggested that the Defense Department learn from the private sector and reduce acquisition cycle time to at most five years, including three phases: technology development, product development and production. The current DoD acquisition cycle tends to spread technology and product design over longer periods of time, increasing the risk that projects will have cost overruns and schedule delays.
Walker also suggested that the department focus on improving the skills of acquisition project managers.
Jacques Gansler, under secretary of Defense for acquisition, technology and logistics, said he has appointed a task force to review procurement personnel issues. The task force will look at career development and advancement for project managers. One way to reward excellent project managers would be promotion-in-place, Gansler said. Promotions-in-place allow agencies to pay managers higher salaries without giving them new duties.
Gansler also said that military officials assigned to procurement positions are now required to have acquisition training and experience, so that one-star generals are not put in "holding positions" to oversee procurement projects until more exciting assignments open up.
The officials' testimony from the hearing is on the Senate Armed Services Committee Web site.