Introduction to Acquisition

Describe the Acquisition Strategy (AS) and its importance

An outline for a program illustrating how to transform a capability gap into a fielded, sustained system

Its content draws upon the Defense Acquisitions Decision Support Systems

Identify the [3] Defense Acquisition Decision Support Systems and their functions

1.) Joint Capabilities Integration and Development System (JCIDS)

2.) Planning, Programming, Budgeting, and Execution (PPB&E)

3.) Defense Acquisition System (DAS)

Joint Capabilities Integration and Development System (JCIDS)

Identify and document capability gaps and requirements

Planning, Programming, Budgeting, and Execution (PPB&E)

The DoD’s process to plan, request, and manage resources to fund development

Defense Acquisition System (DAS)

The process by which acquisition takes place

Implemented by the 6 pathways in the Defense Adaptive Acquisitions Framework (AAF)

Identify the [6] different acquisition pathways available to defense program managers

The AAF:

1.) Urgent Capability Acquisition

2.) Middle Tier of Acquisition

3.) Major Capability Acquisition

4.) Software Acquisition

5.) Defense Business Acquisition

6.) Acquisition of Services

Urgent Capability Acquisition

Fields capabilities in less than 2 years to prevent/reduce loss of life or critical mission failure

Middle Tier of Acquisitions

Prototype and field system within 5 years to demonstrate new capabilities

Major Capability Acquisition

The traditional acquisition model used to provide enduring capabilities

No specific time constraint

Software Acquisition

Facilitate rapid, iterative delivery of a capability within 1 year

Defense Business System

Acquire information systems for DoD business operations

Acquisition of Services

Acquire services from the private sector, such as construction, product support, and medical services

Recognize the purpose of a phase and decision point

1.) Phase

2.) Decision Point

Phase

An incremental amount of work intended to refine a product

It enables PM’s to understand how a product will function, how it will be built, and what it will cost

Decision Point

Opportunities between phases to assess progress before further investment

Differentiate between predictive, incremental, iterative, and agile life cycles

1.) Predictive Life Cycle

2.) Incremental Life Cycle

3.) Iterative Life Cycle

4.) Adaptive/Agile Life Cycle

Predictive Life Cycle

A structured, sequential plan with firm requirements to enable comprehensive planning

Iterative Life Cycle

A prototype yields stakeholder feedback that informs the next prototype cycle until the final product is delivered

Incremental Life Cycle

Provide frequent deliveries of useable subsets of an overall solution

Adaptive/Agile Life Cycle

Rapidly develop prototypes that incorporate frequent customer feedback to produce multiple deliverables

Utilized in dynamic environments