AMERICA’S ARMY WINNING IN A COMPLEX WORLD

MILESTONE DECISION AUTHORITY (MDA)
This is the individual designated in accordance with criteria established
by the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and
Logistics for Automated Information System acquisition programs, to
approve entry of an acquisition program into the next phase.
• Defense Acquisition Executive (DAE): The individual responsible
for supervising the Defense Acquisition System. The DAE takes
precedence on all acquisition matters after the Secretary of Defense
and the Deputy Secretary of Defense.
• Army Acquisition Executive (AAE): The individual solely
responsible for acquisition matters within the Department of the
Army and the single decision authority for all Army acquisition
matters. The AAE is responsible for approving requests to initiate
new acquisition programs, and will do so only when they are
supported by approved capability documents, requisite funding and
program documentation.
• Program Executive Officer: A military or civilian assigned
program responsibilities for the execution and management of
ACAT II and III programs, or for any other program determined by
the AAE to require dedicated executive management.
MODIFICATIONS
Any modification that is of sufficient cost and complexity that it could
itself qualify as an ACAT I or ACAT IA program shall be considered
for management purposes as a separate acquisition effort. Modifications
that do not cross the ACAT I or IA threshold shall be considered
part of the program being modified, unless the acquisition program is
no longer in production. In that case, the modification shall be considered
a separate acquisition effort.
OPERATIONAL TEST AND EVALUATION (OT&E)
OT&E shall be structured to determine the operational effectiveness
and suitability of a system under realistic conditions, e.g., combat,
and to determine that the operational performance requirements are
satisfied. The following procedures are mandatory: Threat or threat
representative forces, targets, and countermeasures, validated in coordination
with the Defense Intelligence Agency, shall be used; typical
users shall operate and maintain the system or item under conditions
simulating combat stress and peacetime conditions; the independent
Operational Test Activity shall use production or production representative
articles for the dedicated phase of OT&E that supports the
Full-Rate Production decision, or for ACAT IA or other acquisition
programs, the Deployment decision; and the use of modeling and
simulation shall be considered during test planning.
OPERATIONS AND SUPPORT
The objectives of this activity are the execution of a support program
that meets the threshold values of all support performance requirements
and sustainment of them in the most lifecycle-cost-effective
manner. A Follow-on Operational Test and Evaluation program that
assesses performance and quality, compatibility, and interoperability,
and identifies deficiencies shall be conducted, as appropriate. This
activity shall also include the execution of operational support
plans, to include the transition from contractor to organic support,
if appropriate.
WARFIGHTING FUNCTIONS
A Warfighting Function is a group of tasks and systems (people, organizations,
information and processes) united by a common purpose
that commanders use to accomplish missions. The Army’s Warfighting
Functions are fundamentally linked to the Joint functions.
Mission Command
The Mission Command Warfighting Function develops and integrates
those activities enabling a commander to balance the art of command
and the science of control. This fundamental philosophy of command
places people, rather than technology or systems, at the center. Under
this philosophy, commanders drive the operations process through
their activities of understand, visualize, describe, direct, lead and
assess. They develop teams, both within their own organizations and
with Joint, interagency and multinational partners. Commanders
inform and influence audiences, inside and outside their organizations.
The commander leads the staff’s tasks under the science of control.
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