SEC. 834. CAREER PATH AND OTHER
REQUIREMENTS FOR MILITARY PERSONNEL IN THE ACQUISITION FIELD.
(a) Acquisition Personnel Requirements-
(1) IN
GENERAL- Chapter 87 of title 10, United States Code, is
amended by inserting after section 1722 the following new
section:
`Sec.
1722a. Special requirements for military personnel in the
acquisition field
`(a)
Requirement for Policy and Guidance Regarding Military Personnel
in Acquisition- The Secretary of Defense shall require the
Secretary of each military department (with respect to such
military department) and the Under Secretary of Defense for
Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics (with respect to the
Office of the Secretary of Defense, the unified combatant
commands, the Defense Agencies, and the Defense Field
Activities) to establish policies and issue guidance to ensure
the proper development, assignment, and employment of members of
the armed forces in the acquisition field to achieve the
objectives of this section as specified in subsection (b).
`(b) Objectives- Policies established and guidance issued
pursuant to subsection (a) shall ensure, at a minimum, the
following:
`(1) A
career path in the acquisition field that attracts the highest
quality officers and enlisted personnel.
`(2) A number of command positions and senior noncommissioned
officer positions, including acquisition billets reserved for
general officers and flag officers under subsection (c),
sufficient to ensure that members of the armed forces have
opportunities for promotion and advancement in the acquisition
field.
`(3) A number of qualified, trained members of the armed
forces eligible for and active in the acquisition field
sufficient to ensure the optimum management of the acquisition
functions of the Department of Defense and the appropriate use
of military personnel in contingency contracting.
`(c)
Reservation of Acquisition Billets for General Officers and Flag
Officers-
(1)
The Secretary of Defense shall--
`(A)
establish for each military department a sufficient number
of billets coded or classified for acquisition personnel
that are reserved for general officers and flag officers
that are needed for the purpose of ensuring the optimum
management of the acquisition functions of the Department of
Defense; and
`(B) ensure that the policies established and guidance
issued pursuant to subsection (a) by the Secretary of each
military department reserve at least that minimum number of
billets and fill the billets with qualified and trained
general officers and flag officers who have significant
acquisition experience.
`(2)
The Secretary of Defense shall ensure--
`(A)
a sufficient number of billets for acquisition personnel who
are general officers or flag officers exist within the
Office of the Secretary of Defense, the unified combatant
commands, the Defense Agencies, and the Defense Field
Activities to ensure the optimum management of the
acquisition functions of the Department of Defense; and
`(B) that the policies established and guidance issued
pursuant to subsection (a) by the Secretary reserve within
the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the unified
combatant commands, the Defense Agencies, and the Defense
Field Activities at least that minimum number of billets and
fill the billets with qualified and trained general officers
and flag officers who have significant acquisition
experience.
`(3)
The Secretary of Defense shall ensure that a portion of the
billets referred to in paragraphs (1) and (2) involve command
of organizations primarily focused on contracting and are
reserved for general officers and flag officers who have
significant contracting experience.
`(d)
Relationship to Limitation on Preference for Military Personnel-
Any designation or reservation of a position for a member of the
armed forces as a result of a policy established or guidance
issued pursuant to this section shall be deemed to meet the
requirements for an exception under paragraph (2) of section
1722(b) of this title from the limitation in paragraph (1) of
such section.
`(e) Report- Not later than January 1 of each year, the
Secretary of each military department shall submit to the Under
Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics
a report describing how the Secretary fulfilled the objectives
of this section in the preceding calendar year. The report shall
include information on the reservation of acquisition billets
for general officers and flag officers within the department
concerned.'.
(2)
CLERICAL AMENDMENT- The table of sections at the beginning of
chapter 87 of such title is amended by inserting after the
item relating to section 1722 the following new item:
`1722a. Special requirements for military personnel in the
acquisition field.'.
(b) Additional Item in Strategic Plan- Section 543(f)(3)(E) of
the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008
(Public Law 110-181; 122 Stat 116) is amended by inserting
after `officer assignments and grade requirements' the
following: `, including requirements relating to the
reservation of billets in the acquisition field for general
and flag officers,'.
(c) Annual Report Required- Not later than 270 days after the
date of the enactment of this Act, and not later than March 1
of 2010, 2011, and 2012, the Secretary of Defense shall submit
to the congressional defense committees a report on--
(1)
the number acquisition and contracting billets in each of
the Armed Forces and joint activities that are reserved for
general officers and flag officers; and
(2) the extent to which these billets have been filled by
general officers and flag officers with significant
acquisition experience and significant contracting
experience, as applicable.
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SECTION 813--CAREER PATH AND OTHER
REQUIREMENTS FOR MILITARY PERSONNEL IN THE ACQUISITION FIELD
This section would add a new section 1722a
to title 10, United States Code. This section would require the
secretaries of the military departments, with respect to the
military departments, and the Under Secretary of Defense for
Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics, with respect to the
Office of the Secretary of Defense, the unified combatant
commands, the defense agencies, and the defense field activities
to establish policies and issue guidance to ensure the proper
development, assignment, and employment of military personnel in
the acquisition field. This section would require the policies
established and the guidance issued to ensure a career path in
the acquisition field that attracts the highest quality officers
and enlisted personnel, a number of command positions and senior
non-commissioned officer positions sufficient to ensure that
military personnel have opportunities for promotion and
advancement in the acquisition field, and a number of qualified,
trained military personnel in the acquisition field sufficient to
support requirements for military personnel in contingency
contracting.
This section would also require the Secretary of Defense to
establish a minimum number of general officer billets reserved
for acquisition in each of the military departments and within
the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the unified combatant
commands, the defense agencies, and the defense field activities,
including billets reserved for command of contracting
organizations. This section would require each secretary of a
military department to submit an annual report to the Under
Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics
on the implementation of this section. This section would also
require that consideration of general and flag officer billets
for acquisition be included in the strategic plan relating to
general and flag officers required by section 543 of the National
Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008 (Public Law
110-181). |
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Modification of limitations on authorized
strengths of general and flag officers on active duty (sec. 502)
Modification of limitations on authorized
strengths of general and flag officers on active duty (sec. 502)
The committee recommends a provision that would amend section 526
of title 10, United States Code, to authorize the Secretary of
Defense to designate up to 324 general and flag officer positions
as joint duty assignments that would be excluded from the
limitation on the number of general and flag officers in each
service and would specify the minimum number of officers required
to serve in these positions for each service.
The provision would realign the number of
general and flag officers authorized to serve on active duty in
the Army from 302 to 222 officers; in the Navy from 216 to 159
officers; in the Air Force from 279 to 206 officers; and in the
Marine Corps from 80 to 59 officers. The provision would also
repeal section 721 of title 10, United States Code, which limits
the number of general and flag officers authorized to serve in
positions outside their own service. The provision would also
establish goals for the number of general officers and flag
officers in the Department of Defense (DOD) and the military
services who serve in acquisition positions and who have
significant contracting experience. The October 31, 2007, report
of the Commission on Army Acquisition and Program Management in
Expeditionary Operations (the ‘‘Gansler Commission’’) attributed
contracting failures in Iraq and Afghanistan, in significant
part, to the Army’s lack of general officers in the contracting
field. The report states:
The Army’s difficulty in adjusting to
the singular problems of Kuwait, Iraq and Afghanistan is in
large part due to the fact that there are no Generals assigned
to contracting responsibilities. This is a decade-old blight:
the cutbacks began in 1991, and no general officers have held
an Army contracting position since 1998. In a military environment
(especially in an expeditionary environment),
the number and level of the Generals associated with a
discipline reflects its importance. A General is held
accountable for his or her leadership. Today, the Secretary of
the Army cannot replace a General and obtain a new start
for Army contracting—the Army has no Generals doing
contracting.
The findings of the Gansler Commission
are symptomatic of a broader decline in the number of
acquisition and contracting positions across the Department of
Defense. In fiscal year 2000, 104 general officers—roughly 12
percent of all general officers in DOD—served in acquisition
positions. By fiscal year 2007, DOD had only 73 general
officers serving in such positions—despite the fact that DOD’s
acquisition spending had almost doubled in the interim.
Without increasing the number of
general officers serving in these positions, DOD is unlikely to
reverse the ongoing decline in its acquisition workforce and
revitalize its acquisition and contracting practices. The
committee urges the Secretary of Defense, the secretaries of
the military departments, and the chiefs of staff to
significantly increase the number of general officers serving
in acquisition and contracting positions in the near future.
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