Reports: Senate Committee’s FY 2017 Defense Bill Seeks to Split Up AT&L Responsibilities

The Senate Armed Services Committee has completed its markup of a fiscal 2017 defense policy bill that proposes some Defense Department organizational reforms, Defense News reported Thursday.

Joe Gould writes the committee’s version of the 2017 National Defense Authorization Act contains a provision that would remove the Office of the Under Secretary for Acquisitions, Technology and Logistics and create two new functions to replace the current AT&L organization.

The bill seeks to distribute responsibilities currently held by Frank Kendall to a proposed undersecretary of defense for research and engineering and an undersecretary of management and support, Gould reports.

SASC’s NDAA would establish an R&E office to oversee innovation and policies related to national security technology programs and mandate an M&S office to help run DoD organizations that perform business operations.

Sydney Freedberg Jr. of Breaking Defense reported Friday the committee also aims to reduce the number of flag officers and Senior Executive Service members by up to 25 percent through the defense policy bill.

The committee also proposed to dissolve the F-35 Joint Program Office and delegate the office’s current responsibilities to service branches, according to Freedberg.