Research for Procurement and Acquisitions

At the request of the Secretary of the Air Force (SECAF), CNA convened an executive panel composed of retired senior uniformed and civilian executives with significant experience in managing acquisition programs and portfolios from an AF, defense, and industry perspective. Under the direction of CNA, the executive panel, supplemented by CNA acquisition experts, made a broad-ranging, top-to-bottom assessment of the current state of AF acquisition. We interviewed, in-depth, 48 current and former senior acquisition officials and executives from the AF, the office of the Secretary of Defense, the Navy, and private industry. This paper reports the findings and recommendations based on those interviews, augmented by fact checks and data analysis. Specifically, we made 24 recommendations, and 21 sub-recommendations organized around two broad categories with six topic areas: • People 1. Culture, 2. Senior leadership, and 3. Workforce and structure. • Process 1. Acquisition process and policy, 2. Requirements, and 3. Budget discipline.