GovernmentExecutive.com

A year after the Government Accountability Office overturned two major contract award decisions by the Air Force, senior officials on Friday outlined plans to improve the way the service buys new weapons.

"The Air Force secretary and chief of staff have made recapturing acquisition excellence a top priority," said David Van Buren, acting assistant secretary for acquisition. Van Buren is charged with implementing nearly three-dozen actions aimed at "ensuring rigor, reliability and transparency across the Air Force acquisition enterprise," according to the plan released this week.

The contracting problems in 2008 surrounding the aerial refueling tanker and the combat search-and-rescue aircraft programs led Air Force Secretary Michael Donley and Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz to order a comprehensive look at how the service made the flawed contractor selections in both programs. In addition, they asked for an assessment of the overall acquisition process.

The assessment found five critical shortcomings: the training, experience and number of skilled professionals in the acquisition workforce had degraded over time; contract requirements were overstated, changed often and were difficult to evaluate; programs were under-budgeted, especially as requirements evolved; individuals involved in selecting contract winners were not always trained sufficiently for their roles; and the acquisition and program executive officer oversight organizations were ill-defined and cumbersome.

The top priority in the service's acquisition improvement plan is to "revitalize" the workforce.

Based on input from field organizations, the review is leading service officials to seek authorization to increase the acquisition workforce by 2,062 personnel -- 247 officers, 11 enlisted personnel and 1,804 civilians, said Lt. Gen. Mark Shackelford, Van Buren's military deputy. Those jobs would be in systems engineering, cost estimating, program management, contracting, logistics, financial management and law.

If the authorization is approved, the military positions would be added in 2010, and the civilian jobs would be added between 2010 and 2013.

"Regardless of other improvements the Air Force may make in the acquisition process, they will not endure without sufficiently educated, trained and experienced professionals capable of executing the acquisition mission in the modern industrial environment. The complexity of the governing legislation, regulations, policies, procedures and practices requires specialized education and training, and many years of experience to master," the plan noted.

The service has a vacancy rate in acquisition-related positions of about 15 percent -- well above the 5 percent rate officials would expect through normal attrition, Shackelford said. Before it can begin filling new positions, the service first needs to staff existing vacancies, he said. In March, the Air Force began using recently authorized expedited hiring authority, which should help reduce the backlog of open positions.

Another key reform involves bringing together warfighters, who determine the requirements of future weapons systems, and acquisition personnel, who must translate those requirements into language that is both understandable by contractors bidding on the weapons programs and by the acquisition personnel who will evaluate the contractors' ability to meet those requirements.

In the past, warfighters and acquisition specialists have not worked together closely enough early in the procurement process, Shackelford said.

In addition, the Air Force will establish clear lines of authority and accountability within its acquisition organizations, Shackelford said.