From the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Systems Engineering, Development Planning Working Group, DoD
November 2015
Introduction:
Early and continuous interaction among the Department of Defense (DoD) warfighter, science &technology (S&T), and acquisition communities is essential to delivering effective, affordable, and sustainable solutions to meet warfighter needs. Current acquisition guidance describes the roles and responsibilities of principal organizations and personnel but lacks a holistic description of how these organizations interact with one another throughout the acquisition life cycle. This paper describes the framework and important interactions among these three communities.
This paper is not intended to prescribe activities or behaviors among or within the communities, nor is it intended to represent an all-inclusive set of activities. It describes the existing framework in order to document and facilitate better understanding of the current interactions. In general, this paper applies to acquisition program models 1–3 (Hardware-Intensive Program, Defense Unique Software-Intensive Program, and Incrementally Deployed Software-Intensive Program) and models 5–6 (Hybrid Program A (Hardware Dominant) and Hybrid Program B (Software Dominant)) described in Department of Defense Instruction (DoDI) 5000.02, “Operation of the Defense Acquisition System” (2015); it does not address model 4 (Accelerated Acquisition Program) or capabilities that follow Rapid Fielding of Capabilities (see DoDI 5000.02, Enclosure 13). For this paper, the term “warfighter” signifies a community that may include the user and the requirements manager.
The Development Planning Working Group (DPWG), led by the Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Systems Engineering (ODASD(SE)), developed this information. The DPWG includes representatives from each of the Services, the Joint Staff, the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) office of Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation (CAPE), and other offices within the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics (OUSD(AT&L)).
