Ellen Lord, defense undersecretary for acquisition, technology and logistics, has said she plans to move the “bulk†of major defense acquisition programs and personnel associated with MDAPs back to the three service branches, Defense News reported Wednesday.
“Congress has been very, very clear in the last few [National Defense Authorization Acts] that they want to shift oversight of most programs back to the services, and I entirely agree with that,†Lord said Wednesday at the Association of the U.S. Army’s annual meeting.
“In fact, there were some programs that were transitioned back earlier this year,†she added.
Lord noted that the F-35 fighter jet program and other cross-service initiatives will remain at the Defense Department‘s AT&L office.
Federal News Radio also reported that DoD aims to achieve a 50 percent reduction in contract delivery time as the department prepares to split the AT&L office into two by February 2018 as part of a reorganization plan.
Lord said she wants the Pentagon to leverage its new authorities to accelerate the delivery time.
“Other transaction authorities, I think we see the Air Force doing a nice job with some of those and, frankly, we don’t have all of our staff that are totally cognizant of what those authorities are and what we can do and what we can’t do,†she told reporters after her speech at the AUSA event in Washington.
She also cited Congress’ collaboration with DoD to streamline the acquisition process through elimination of unnecessary regulations and her meetings with defense contractors and trade groups.
