Acquisition Reform: Where We've Been; Current Legislation and Initiatives; and Where We're Going.

New and innovative approaches are needed throughout government we must search for revolutionary changes, not just evolutionary changes. A key area ripe for innovation lies in reforming the defense acquisition system -- how we develop and acquire goods and services for our nations defense. Overall, the U.S. government spends over 200 billion on procurement every year, a major portion of this amount being spent by the Department of Defense. With billions of dollars at stake, shaving even small percentages off the total quickly equates to millions of dollars in savings. However, when we consider revolutionizing defense procurement rather than small, incremental changes the potential savings rise to the billions. The aim of this research paper is to examine efforts underway to reform the defense acquisition system, and identify future challenges in defense acquisition. The primary focus of this paper is on current 1994 and 1995 initiatives and legislation, but it also includes sufficient historical perspective to put todays issues into the broader temporal context. After briefly summarizing past efforts in acquisition reform, this paper discusses the Clinton Administrations initiatives in reforming defense acquisition.