The U.S. Army is currently undergoing a sweeping modernization effort to upgrade its reservoir of capabilities. While technology itself is a key piece of this movement, so are acquisition and production, and the service branch is exploring ways to transform acquisition processes.
According to Young Bang, principal deputy assistant secretary of the Army for acquisition, logistics and technology and a 2024 Wash100 Award winner, recent undertakings such as migrating to digital systems challenged the Army to shake up existing processes, which fostered a team-based mindset to the shift to agile acquisition at speed.
Industry is a major player in the production component of modernization. Working with commercial partners, Bang said in his keynote address at the Potomac Officers Club’s 2024 Army Summit on Thursday, can “help to accelerate prototypes to really supercharge the productions that we need.”
To take advantage of the capabilities industry has to offer, the Army is embracing more flexible acquisition methods and moving away from strict adherence to traditional approaches. The Army recently released a directive calling for the adoption of a hybrid model, which he said “encourages all different types of things, encourages creativity, but doesn’t want us to default to firm-fixed-price.”
Bang highlighted five of the directive’s goals – changing the way capability needs are written; employing flexible acquisition and contracting strategies; streamlining and modernizing key processes; adopting a new sustainment model; and developing needed talent and expertise – as drivers of this shift.
He offered a request for information regarding an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for purchasing software-related services as an example of these objectives in action.
“We want to buy capacity. It is a services play, but it is a capacity play – it’s not products,” said Bang.
“We have products, we’re happy to get the cost in there to figure out the perfect fit, whatever the right model is – we’re good with that,” he said. “But this is our way of looking at the vehicles that are currently out there. All [contract vehicles] that are out there are very good for us to buy modern software development and buy capacity.”
The RFI, Bang continued, is an opportunity for industry to “give their real feedback on that space.”
He noted that the directive does not exist to rule out firm-fixed-price contracts, which still make sense for specific product purchases, but to widen the availability of nontraditional options to better suit service purchases that may be more difficult to price.
Along with RFIs, the Army has hosted numerous industry days to drive further engagement with partners, Bang said. Transparency, he added, is a priority for the service branch as it experiments with new acquisition strategies.
Want to learn more about how the U.S. military is evolving? At the Potomac Officers Club’s 2024 Air Force Summit on July 23, you will have the opportunity to take a deep dive into the service branch’s most important initiatives alongside top Air Force officials and industry leaders. To learn more and register to attend, head over to the 2024 Air Force Summit event page on the Potomac Officers Club’s website.
