Pathways to Defense Budget Reform

Excerpt from the Proceedings of the Nineteenth Annual Acquisition Research SymposiumThe Planning-Programming-Budgeting-Execution (PPBE) process is the most powerful system of incentives affecting acquisition management in the Department of Defense. It is the conduit to money. A key feature of PPBE is the program of record concept that relies on a multi-year planning process. Not only does the program of record hamper technology adoption through adherence to baselines, it creates barriers to interoperability by stovepiping program decisions. Many researchers have detailed the inadequacies of PPBE and the need for embracing a portfolio management approach that aligns with best practices found in commercial and international organizations. This paper dives deeper into the history of how the legislative and executive branches managed defense budget portfolios in the 1960s and before, as well as how PPBE upended those traditional processes. First, it traces the reduction in execution flexibility over time by documenting the budget structure and thresholds for reprogramming. Second, it examines criteria for effective oversight in the PPBE and portfolio settings. The paper concludes that execution flexibility in the form of portfolio budgeting is not only consistent with economic efficiency, it is consistent with United States traditions of congressional control.Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited

NASA Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, Ocean Ecosystem (PACE) Mission: Applications

PACE will extend and improve NASA's 20-plus years of global satellite observations of our living ocean, aerosols, and clouds and initiate an advanced set of climate-relevant data records. By determining the distribution of phytoplankton, PACE will help assess ocean health. It will also continue key measurements related to air quality and climate. This strategic mission is a Program of Record in the 2017 Decadal Survey for Earth Science and Applications for Space

Developing Flexible Discrete Event Simulation Models in an Uncertain Policy Environment

On February 1st, 2010 U.S. President Barack Obama submitted to Congress his proposed budget request for Fiscal Year 2011. This budget included significant changes to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), including the proposed cancellation of the Constellation Program. This change proved to be controversial and Congressional approval of the program's official cancellation would take many months to complete. During this same period an end-to-end discrete event simulation (DES) model of Constellation operations was being built through the joint efforts of Productivity Apex Inc. (PAl) and Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) teams under the guidance of NASA. The uncertainty in regards to the Constellation program presented a major challenge to the DES team, as to: continue the development of this program-of-record simulation, while at the same time remain prepared for possible changes to the program. This required the team to rethink how it would develop it's model and make it flexible enough to support possible future vehicles while at the same time be specific enough to support the program-of-record. This challenge was compounded by the fact that this model was being developed through the traditional DES process-orientation which lacked the flexibility of object-oriented approaches. The team met this challenge through significant pre-planning that led to the "modularization" of the model's structure by identifying what was generic, finding natural logic break points, and the standardization of interlogic numbering system. The outcome of this work resulted in a model that not only was ready to be easily modified to support any future rocket programs, but also a model that was extremely structured and organized in a way that facilitated rapid verification. This paper discusses in detail the process the team followed to build this model and the many advantages this method provides builders of traditional process-oriented discrete event simulations

Distance support in-service engineering for the high energy laser

The U.S. Navy anticipates moving to a shipboard high-energy laser program of record in the fiscal year 2018 and achieving an initial operational capability by 2020. The design of a distance support capability within the high-energy laser system was expected to assist the Navy in reaching this goal. This capstone project explored the current Navy architecture for distance support and applied system engineering methodologies to develop a conceptual distance support framework with application to the high-energy laser system. A model and simulation of distance support functions were developed and used to analyze the feasibility in terms of performance, cost, and risk. Results of this capstone study showed that the implementation of distance support for the high-energy laser system is feasible and would reduce the total ownership cost over the life of the program. Furthermore, the capstone shows that moving toward the team’s recommended distance support framework will address current gaps in the Navy distance support architecture and will provide a methodology tailored to modern enterprise naval systems.http://archive.org/details/distancesupporti1094545248Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited

Integration and Optimization of UUV/USV Operations in Environmental Characterization

John Joseph, Doug Horner and Bradley NottThis research is an initial investigation into the potential application of an integrated system consisting of unmanned surface vessel (USV) and unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) components in support of wide-area environmental sensing and characterization. The project was suggested as a topic of interest by CNO N2/N6 which has been contemplating the development of a USV program under the Navyﾒs Littoral Battlespace Sensing Program of Record. A comprehensive theoretical, modeling and observational approach was used to weigh strengths and limitations of an integrated system that leverages use of available unmanned system technology to develop an effective integrated system for characterizing both the oceanographic and acoustic environments supporting undersea warfare (USW) and battlespace awareness (BA) missions. The study was largely conducted as the basis for thesis research conducted by LT Bradley Nott, a USW curriculum student who recently graduated with his MS Physical Oceanography degree in September 2015 (http://hdl.handle.net/10945/47308).Naval Research ProgramPrepared for: CNO N2/N6, Sponsor POC Name: CDR Nick Vincen

EXTENSION ECONOMICS: AN EFFECTIVE RESEARCH INDUSTRY INTERFACE - A DISCUSSION

Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession,

Horizontal Integration of Warfighter Intelligence Data: A Shared Semantic Resource for the Intelligence Community

We describe a strategy that is being used for the horizontal integration of warfighter intelligence data within the framework of the US Army’s Distributed Common Ground System Standard Cloud (DSC) initiative. The strategy rests on the development of a set of ontologies that are being incrementally applied to bring about what we call the ‘semantic enhancement’ of data models used within each intelligence discipline. We show how the strategy can help to overcome familiar tendencies to stovepiping of intelligence data, and describe how it can be applied in an agile fashion to new data resources in ways that address immediate needs of intelligence analysts

AN ANALYSIS OF HOW THE U.S. GOVERNMENT CAN EFFECTIVELY TACKLE SUPPLY CHAIN BARRIERS TO SCALE UP THE LOW COST UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLE (UAV) SWARMING TECHNOLOGY (LOCUST) PROGRAM

The LOCUST program is a scalable system of inexpensive swarming unmanned aerial vehicles to provide disruptive capability in contested environments against anti-area access denial defenses, enabling manned strike operations and localized landing site superiority with reduced cost, risk, and operator launch and workload. Our research and analysis will emphasize the challenges of moving from a U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) effort to a large program of record. Specific supply chain concerns that will be addressed include: 1) DOD organizational structure; 2) service-specific objectives and currently operating platforms; 3) requirements generation and related procurements to include production and quality challenges; 4) safety and quality assurance standards; 5) lead times, inventory plans, and throughput to include supplier base considerations and consolidations; and 6) latest evolving technologies and continuous improvement principles. Our team will utilize the Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control (DMAIC) evaluative methodology that focuses on data-driven improvement cycles to better optimize process, design and results. Our results and recommendations highlighted multiple strategies that the Office of Naval Research (ONR) must focus on when developing the LOCUST supply chain. These conclusions and findings address both current supply chain development opportunities for the LOCUST program, as well as where the program must focus its efforts in the future.http://archive.org/details/ananalysisofhowt1094563516Civilian, Department of the NavyCivilian, Department of the ArmyCivilian, Department of the ArmyApproved for public release; distribution is unlimited

Measuring Congressional Impact on Defense Acquisition Funding

Acquisition Research Program Sponsored Report SeriesSponsored Acquisition Research & Technical ReportsThis analysis seeks to assess the role of Congress in the resourcing of defense acquisition programs. Via the appropriations process, Congress exercises its oversight authority on the executive branch’s defense policy and can choose to match, modify, or eliminate the Department of Defense’s (DoD) requested funding levels for acquisition programs primarily funded by procurement and research, development, test, and evaluation (RDT&E) accounts. Congress’ decisions in this process can have a significant impact on the executive branch’s defense plans by making adjustments to acquisition projects’ program of record. This in turn can force DoD program management teams to alter schedules and contracting actions and can have second-order effects on private sector partners in the acquisition process. To measure Congress’ impact on defense acquisition funding, this study compares the actual funding level for procurement and RDT&E accounts with the original level proposed in the administration’s budget request and identifies patterns in which accounts are regularly adjusted by Congress. It assesses procurement and RDT&E accounts between FY 2001 and FY 2020 and conducts data cuts of acquisition funding at the account, category, military department, and budget activity levels. This analysis ultimately aims to inform defense planners, acquisition officials and program managers, and industry partners of trends in congressional appropriations for defense so they can better anticipate Congress’ impact on defense acquisition funding.Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited.Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited

Allocating SMART Reliability and Maintainability Goals to NASA Ground Systems

This paper will describe the methodology used to allocate Reliability and Maintainability (R&M) goals to Ground Systems Development and Operations (GSDO) subsystems currently being designed or upgraded