The Military Procurement System--Can It Be Improved?

The military procurement system is under increasing pressure to reduce inefficiencies to get more capability for the dollar. Under constant pressure from the Congress and the media, the system has to date failed to meet expectations. Examples of cost overruns, underestimating of new item costs, and mismanagement continue to surface and be used for political as well as profit purposes. Before the process can be improved, the actual causes of problems must be identified and solutions must be offered to fix the system that will not have negative impacts in other areas. To this purpose, research and interviews were conducted to identify known problems, consolidate causes in categories and to identify solutions that had been proven successful in the past. This effort will hopefully serve two purposes. First, those in positions of responsibility will be inspired to improve the system within their respective areas and secondly, our followers in the procurement system will not have to continually rediscover the problems and reinvent solutions.