Ryan McCarthy, acting secretary of the U.S. Army, has released a new directive that aims to streamline the contracting process as part of the service branch’s Acquisition Reform Initiative, Deltek reported Tuesday.The Army Directive 2017-32 directs the service’s assistant secretary for acquisition, logistics and technology to carry out several actions by April 30, 2018, in an effort to shorten the military procurement process that usually takes one to two years.
These measures include the centralization of the contracting policy across the military branch; assessment of regulatory thresholds for procurement approval authorities to address delays in the acquisition process; evaluation of source selection procedures and policies; and review of training requirements related to the Defense Acquisition Workforce Improvement Act.
The directive also calls for the completion of a review of approximately 350 potential contract files to reduce documentation requirements, analysis of internal organizational frameworks by heads of contracting activities and establishment of a review board and program integrator to assess contract documents prior to submission.
McCarthy also wants the Army to build a process to facilitate early engagement during the contracting process to identify possible deficiencies in the requirements’ definition and address extended protests through the development of a legislative proposal for integration into the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2020.
The Army Materiel Command should form a review board to advance collaboration between procurement and non-procurement stakeholders over acquisition categories I, II and III, the directive noted.
