Challenges of Adopting DevOps for Combat Systems Development Environment

The Department of Defense (DoD) is often exhorted to adopt best practices from industry, and more recently, innovation in software development as exemplified by Silicon Valley. Yet, the DoD is vastly different from industry in multiple aspects, and adoption of such practices is not as straightforward as in industry. This article investigates the challenges of adopting Development and Operations (DevOps) in the U.S. Navy for combat systems. The authors conducted interviews of multiple subject matter experts in the Navy and DoD familiar with software development, DevOps, and the DoD’s acquisition processes. The observations collected from the interviews were organized and classified into either organizational, process, regulatory challenges, and technical challenges. The majority of the challenges cited were nontechnical challenges dealing with regulations, organization culture, and process. Knowledge of the challenges could help acquisition leaders in planning for, and adapting DevOps to, the Navy’s acquisition process to improve DoD’s software development and maintenance processes.

Can We Explain Cost Growth in Major Defense Acquisition Programs?

This question asked in this article is whether the shared intellectual property of the acquisition community includes an adequate theory of cost growth in major defense acquisition programs (MDAPs). This question is given concrete form by cost growth data for 123 MDAPs. These data are grouped into categories, which range from very small—negative, in fact—cost growth to cost growth in excess of 100%. Potential explanations for this broad range of cost growth considered are: the conventional wisdom about cost growth; a recent RAND study that closely examined cases at both ends of the distribution, along with some possible extensions of that study; and a recent model of the root causes of cost growth. The author argues that each of these falls short; in particular, it seems that the defense acquisition community at large does not have a good explanation of cost growth in the broad range of 30% to 100%.

Optimal Talent Management of the Acquisition Workforce in Response to COVID-19: Dynamic Programming Approach

As the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic lingers, with the speed of recovery still uncertain, the state of the civilian labor market will impact the public sector. Specifically, the relatively stable and insulated jobs in the Department of Defense (DoD) are expected to be perceived as more attractive for the near future. This implies changes in DoD worker quit behavior that present both a challenge and an opportunity for the DoD leadership in retaining high-quality, experienced talent. The authors use a unique panel dataset of DoD civilian acquisition workers and a dynamic programming approach to simulate the impact of the pandemic on employee retention rates under a variety of recovery scenarios. Their findings posit that workers will choose not to leave the DoD while the civilian sector suffers from the impact of the pandemic. This allows leadership to more easily retain experienced workers. However, once the civilian sector has recovered enough, these same workers quit at an accelerated rate, making gains in talent only temporary. These results imply that while the DoD can take short-run advantage of negative shocks to the civilian sector to retain and attract high-quality employees, long-run retention will be achieved through more fundamental reforms to personnel policy that make DoD jobs more attractive, no matter the state of the civilian labor market.

Exploring Performance in Air Force Science and Technology Programs

Science and technology (S&T) programs serve an important function in the defense acquisition process as the initial phase leading to discovery and development of warfighting technology. The results of these programs impact the larger major defense acquisition programs, which integrate the technologies in subsequent phases of the life cycle. Despite this important role, little prior research has examined the performance of S&T programs. In this study, the authors investigate the impact of technological maturation as a critical success factor in Air Force S&T programs. The results suggest that S&T programs with mature technologies are more likely to experience above average cost growth and larger contract values while less likely to experience schedule growth. Additionally, the authors find the partnership method between the government and contractor matters for both technological maturation and schedule growth. Lastly, the nature of the S&T program is important, with aerospace programs more likely to technologically mature than human systems programs.

Aligning Program Management Competencies to Industry Standards

The 2020 National Defense Authorization Act mandated that acquisition career fields realign their certification requirements to be based on the nationally recognized standards of an accredited third party. This study offers recommendations for improving the DoD program management (PM) training standards by providing traceability between the DoD PM competencies and the Project Management Institute (PMI)’s standards for project, program, and portfolio management. The study elaborates on the extent of alignment, finding that 96% of the DoD PM competency elements align to PMI standards. Areas of misalignment identify opportunities to augment DoD PM training and highlight areas where DoD PM training deviates from industry standards.

Exploring Performance in Air Force Science and Technology Programs

Science and technology (S&T) programs serve an important function in the defense acquisition process as the initial phase leading to discovery and development of warfighting technology. The results of these programs impact the larger Major Defense Acquisition Programs, which integrate the technologies in subsequent phases of the life cycle. Despite this important role, little prior research has examined the performance of S&T programs. In this study, the authors investigate the impact of technological maturation as a critical success factor in Air Force S&T programs. The results suggest that S&T programs with mature technologies are more likely to experience above average cost growth and larger contract values while less likely to experience schedule growth. Additionally, the authors find the partnership method between the government and contractor matters for both technological maturation and schedule growth. Lastly, the nature of the S&T program is important, with aerospace programs more likely to technologically mature than human systems programs.

"Extra!" Using the Newsvendor Model to Optimize War Reserve Storage

The United States Marine Corps (USMC) Installation and Logistics Command requested a study for determining appropriate inventory levels of war reserve materiel to meet future operational needs under surge demands in uncertain environments. This study sought to explore a potential approach by using the common newsvendor model, but modified for a military scenario. The authors’ novel version of this core concept considers the purchase and storage costs of an item and proposes an intangible cost function to capture the consequences of a shortage. Further, they show a sample application of the model using a ubiquitous military item—the BA-5590/U battery. The output of the model provides USMC with a new tool to optimize inventory levels of a given item of interest, depending on scenario inputs.

“Extra!” Using the Newsvendor Model to Optimize War Reserve Storage

The United States Marine Corps (USMC) Installation and Logistics Command requested a study for determining appropriate inventory levels of war reserve materiel to meet future operational needs under surge demands in uncertain environments. This study sought to explore a potential approach by using the common newsvendor model, but modified for a military scenario. The authors’ novel version of this core concept considers the purchase and storage costs of an item and proposes an intangible cost function to capture the consequences of a shortage. Further, they show a sample application of the model using a ubiquitous military item—the BA-5590/U battery. The output of the model provides USMC with a new tool to optimize inventory levels of a given item of interest, depending on scenario inputs.