Defense Acquisition University (DAU) Course Help

Identifying and Approving DOD Requirements Summary

Lesson Outcome: Recognize the DoD process for requirements identification and fulfillment.

Topic 1: Major Stakeholders Learner Outcome: Recognize the major stakeholders who support the requirements identification and approval process.

The first major stakeholders remain the individuals and organizations who identified the capability gap in the first place. These stakeholders are:

Users: the warfighters, Combatant Commanders, and DoD agencies

Policy makers: the Joint Staff and the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD)

The first stakeholders must agree on a requirement and then approve pursuing that requirement. In light of today’s emphasis on joint operations and interoperability, the Joint Requirements Oversight Council (JROC) emerges as the final arbiter of priorities and of alternative requirements.

Additional stakeholders enter into the picture:

The acquisition community must develop proposed materiel solutions.

Industry must build materiel solutions, support equipment, and support supplies such as ammunition and fuel.

The Business, Cost Estimating, and Financial Management (BCEFM) system must fund any development effort.

The logistics system must provide necessary support.

Systems Engineering must anticipate and solve development, production, and deployment problems.

The Test and Evaluation (T&E) community must test new weapons systems to help ensure their effectiveness before those new systems go into the field.

DoD approval authorities include the Acquisition Executive, the JROC, Functional Capabilities Boards (FCBs), the Joint Capabilities Board (JCB), and authorities within each Service and agency.

Topic 2: The Requirements Identification Process Learner Outcome: Identify the elements of the DoD requirements identification and approval processes to fill a capability gap.

The formal requirements process begins with a Capabilities-Based Assessment (CBA). Any DoD organization may initiate a CBA. Organizations may initiate CBAs to provide a joint examination of an operational concept proposed by a particular community; or to provide a broad examination of a functional area; or to provide answers on extremely compressed timelines.

The CBA identifies: 1) The capabilities and operational performance criteria required to execute missions successfully 2) The shortfalls in existing weapon systems to deliver those capabilities and the associated operational risks 3) The possible solution space for the capability shortfalls

Gaps in capabilities may be addressed as follows:

1) take no further action because the operational risk is at an acceptable level

2) a non-materiel approach such as changes to doctrine or organization

3) a materiel solution

4) some combination of approaches

CBA results go into either a DOTMLPF Change Recommendation (DCR) or an Initial Capabilities Document (ICD).

When the JROC approves an ICD, it is validating

1) the capabilities required to perform the mission as defined

2) the gap in capabilities

3) priorities and operational risks; and

4) the need to address the capability gaps

Topic 3: Requirements Manager Challenges Learner Outcome: Identify the challenges for Requirements Managers in guiding a requirement through the Capabilities-Based Planning (CBP) Requirements Process.

The Requirements Manager is the warfighters’ agent to be sure the JCIDS and all the other stakeholders see and understand a capability gap whether that gap comes from warfighter feedback or from a new national policy. Since there are many stakeholders, imagine all the things that can go wrong throughout a complicated and confusing process such as JCIDS. The Requirements Manager must be willing and able to face many challenges before DoD delivers an effective solution to the warfighter.

Perhaps the biggest problem the Requirements Manager faces is the need to develop a consensus within an individual Service and take that consensus through the JCIDS analysis and through the joint staff levels. Other action officers and Requirements

Lesson #3 – Identifying and Approving DoD Requirements Page 2 of 3

Managers will compete for higher prioritization and for funding. Experts with excellent qualifications and valid points of view will question the maturity of a concept as they imply the solution is not technically feasible or that someone is rushing the requirement ahead of more valid warfighters’ needs.

Everyone will want to change the requirements to reflect additional missions, priorities, or opportunities. As key people move in and out of their jobs, consensus can collapse if a new general or a new chief engineer rejects predecessor’s agreements, takes time to get up to speed, or brings a new point of view.

Translating the requirements to the managers in the acquisition community is a great challenge because different managers and different specialists have different training, different experience, different points of view, and different communications patterns. The requirements process needs extensive documentation and visualization because everyone needs to know and to agree on what the customer really needs. Throughout the various processes, the Requirements Manager must remain the voice of the warfighter.

When selecting a software developer, years of experience in the software business should be the most important consideration. The amount of experience a contractor has developing the specific type of software needed is not as important as experience in general.

Answer:

False

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ELO: 28e. Identify key discriminators for selecting the most capable software developer.

Programming Funds Summary

The following learning objectives are covered in this lesson:

Identify the basic flow of the financial management process, to include cost analysis, the Planning, Programming, Budgeting and Execution (PPBE) process, Congressional enactment, and program execution.
Relate the following building blocks to the PPBE process: Future Year Defense Program (FYDP); Major Program (MP); and Program Element (PE).
Identify the key events in the programming phase, including the preparation, review and decision process associated with the two primary documents of the phase: the Program Objectives Memorandum (POM) and the Program Decision Memorandum (PDM).
Given programming and budgeting documents, relate the applicable funding policies to each of the six DoD appropriation categories of greatest interest to acquisition programs.
Identify two exceptions to the full funding policy.
Identify the concept of escalation in submitting program and budget documents.

1. The financial management process for defense systems acquisition operates as follows:

It begins with the operational user's capability need, first documented in the Initial Capabilities Document (ICD) and later in the Capability Development Document (CDD) and Capability Production Document (CPD).
Following ICD approval, an Analysis of Alternatives (AoA) is conducted, Cost as an Independent Variable (CAIV) trade-offs are made, and a program cost estimate is prepared to project resource requirements.
Cost, schedule and performance targets are identified in the Acquisition Program Baseline.
The PPBE process is then used to translate plans and programs into a budget that the President submits to Congress.
Congress in turn authorizes programs and appropriates funds.
Finally, budget authority is allocated through a series of steps to the services and defense agencies, enabling them to execute their missions.

2. The PPBE process is a calendar-driven process that helps DoD determine how to allocate resources. This process is divided into four phases:

Planning phase - Planning examines national defense from a broad perspective in terms of long-term strategies, policies, and objectives. The end product of planning is Joint Programming Guidance, which provides input for the Programming phase.
Programming phase - Programming translates planning decisions and congressional guidance into time-phased resource requirements. Through programming, military departments and defense agencies allocate resources to support their roles and missions for the next six years in terms of money and next nine years in terms of manpower. They submit their requirements in a Program Objectives Memorandum (POM), which is amended and approved by OSD in the Program Decision Memorandum (PDM). In turn, programming decisions provide input during the Budgeting phase.
Budgeting phase - Budgeting translates programming decisions into detailed resource requirements for the next fiscal year or two. Each Military Department and Defense Agency produces a Budget Estimate Submission (BES) during the Budgeting phase, which ultimately provides input for the DoD portion of the President's Budget.
Execution Review Phase : Execution review is accomplished concurrently with the program and budget review. Performance metrics are developed and used to assess actual output against planned performance. These metrics are used to adjust resources to achieve goals.

3. The most important products of the Programming phase are the Program Objectives Memorandum (POM) and the Program Decision Memorandum (PDM):

Program Objectives Memorandum (POM) - In even-numbered years, each military department and defense agency submits a combined POM and BES to OSD. The POM proposes a six year allocation of resources to satisfy the Joint Programming Guidance (JPG). The POM is reviewed by the Joint Staff, who issue the Chairman's Program Assessment (CPA), and by the OSD staff, who recommend program changes through POM Issue Papers. The military departments and agencies can comment on or reclama the issues raised by OSD. In the odd years, or "off years", changes to the previous President's Budget are submitted in the form of Program Change Proposals (PCPs).
Program Decision Memorandum (PDM) - The Deputy Secretary of Defense (DEPSECDEF) makes a decision on the POM and documents his decision in a PDM. The DEPSECDEF receives advice in this process from the Senior Level Review Group (SLRG), a group of senior representatives from OSD and each military department. The PDM, along with changes that occur during budgeting, will be reflected in the President's Budget submission.

4. There are several tools that provide data and structure for programming and budgeting.

Future Years Defense Program (FYDP) - The FYDP is a single database that summarizes all forces, resources, and equipment associated with programs approved by the Secretary of Defense. In addition to showing past and current funding and manpower levels, it shows funding requirements for the next six years, as well as manpower requirements for the next nine years.
Major Programs (MP) - The FYDP breaks data into eleven different major programs that contain the total aggregation of resources necessary to achieve a mission objective, such as General Purpose Forces or Research and Development. Each MP is divided into program elements.
Program Elements (PE) - PEs are the primary units of data in the FYDP, the smallest aggregation of resources controlled by OSD. Represented by an eight to ten digit code, PEs give are considered to be the "building blocks" of the programming and budgeting process.

5.Funding policies are used to govern the PPBE process, and different policies apply to different appropriation categories:

Annual funding policy - Governs Operations and Maintenance (O&M) and Military Personnel (MILPERS) funds. Annual funding policy requires that we request only the dollars that we need to spend in order to operate, maintain, or pay the forces in a given fiscal year. This generally pertains to routine expenses, for example equipment maintenance and labor costs.
Incremental funding policy - Governs RDT&E funds and requires you to budget only for the research and development effort that is needed during a given fiscal year. Emphasis is on covering only those expenses to be incurred, based on the work expected to be accomplished during that year.
Full funding policy - Governs PROCUREMENT, MILCON, and SCN funds and provides for the procurement of useable end items which must be delivered within a 12-month period after delivery of the first item. Full funding requires us to budget sufficient funds to cover the total cost to deliver a quantity of usable end items, such as aircraft, missiles, ships, or vehicles that can be delivered in a future 12 month delivery period. Piecemeal procurement of systems is not permitted.

6. There are two exceptions to the full funding policy:

Advance procurement funds are set aside to buy certain components, material, or effort before an end item is procured in order to avoid a serious break of continuity. For example, advanced procurement might be used to obtain a long- lead time item to prevent a break in production, or to maintain critical skills that might otherwise be lost between early and later stages of a manufacturing process. Advance procurement funds are budgeted as a separate line item, usually one fiscal year in advance of the funds budgeted for the related end item.
Multiyear procurement can be used to acquire multiple years worth of equipment with a single contract in order to reduce cost and maintain stability in the acquisition process. The Government makes a commitment to the contractor to procure a specific quantity of a weapon system over several years, thus giving the contractor incentive to realize savings, particularly through economic order quantity (EOQ) purchases and investment in productivity enhancements. Congress must approve all multiyear procurements.

Since Program and Budget requests are projections into the future, they must take into consideration possible market forces that will influence the economy. Escalation allows us to make predictions about expected inflation and outlay rates for each year of the program. There are two types of dollars referred to when we talk about escalation:

Constant, or Base Year, dollars are tied to a specific year with no inflation across the life of a program. Constant dollars are usually used for cost estimates because it makes it easy to make changes across the year without considering the impact on the cost of money over time.
Current, or Then Year, dollars include inflation and outlay rates to account for when the money is actually supposed to be outlayed from the Treasury. This type of dollars is used for program and budget documents and is found in the FYDP.

There are two types of indices used when we apply escalation:

Compound, or Raw, indices relate price levels for each year to a baseline year. This is annual compounding of inflation, similar to the way interest is received on a savings account. The compound indices are used to convert one Base Year to another Base Year dollars.
Composite, or Weighted, indices factor in the historical outlay pattern of the appropriation and inflation rates associated with the fiscal years when cash flows out of the US Treasury. Based on this rate of outlay, appropriation expenses can be loosely predicted to provide a more accurate budgeting picture. The composite indices are used to convert Base Year dollars to Then Year dollars.

DoD publishes escalation indices at least twice a year for the services and defense agencies to use in preparing PPBE input. Program and budget documentation is initially prepared in constant or Base Year dollars and then escalated into current or Then Year dollars so that the funding requested in those future years will be sufficient to pay for expenses that will be incurred in those years.

Developing the Acquisition Strategy Summary

The following learning objectives are covered in this unit:

Identify the information required for a decision review and recognize the significance of the Acquisition Program Baseline, Key Performance Parameters, and Acquisition Strategy.
Identify the advantages and disadvantages of international armaments cooperative development in an acquisition strategy.

1. Key Performance Parameters (KPPs) are capabilities and characteristics considered by the user to be the most essential in successfully accomplishing a capability need. KPPs:

Should be a minimum number of Performance Parameters necessary to adequately describe the required capability of the system (generally eight or fewer).
Are defined using threshold and objective values as a way to describe performance capabilities.

While trade-offs among cost, schedule, and performance might have to be made during the program's life cycle, KPP thresholds are typically non-negotiable.

Threshold values can be lower or higher than objective values, depending on the parameter involved. For example, for a lighter and faster vehicle, the threshold speed would be lower, and the weight higher, than the objective values.
Threshold values establish the minimum acceptable operational value of a given parameter, below which the utility of the system becomes questionable.
Unless otherwise specified, the objective value for performance is the same as the threshold value. For schedule, the threshold is the objective value plus six months, while the threshold cost is the objective value plus 10 percent.
Objective values are the ideal performance parameters desired for the acquisition program, and are usually defined in operationally meaningful, time-critical, and cost-effective increments above the threshold values. Ideally, the difference between the threshold and objective values should diminish as the acquisition program advances.

2. The Acquisition Program Baseline (APB) establishes the cost, schedule and performance targets for an acquisition program. Specifically, the APB

Serves as a formal agreement between the Program Manager (PM) and the Milestone Decision Authority (MDA)
Defines the space between the KPP objectives and thresholds in which trade-offs can be made between cost, schedule and performance without requiring MDA approval
Can only be changed at milestone reviews, program reviews, or in the event of an unrecoverable APB breach

3. The APB: Performance Criteria

Key system design specs should be added at the start of the production, fielding and support phases
Only those performance criteria that influence operational effectiveness, suitability, cost and schedule should be included

4. The APB: Schedule Parameters

Should include program initiation, major milestone decision points, initial operating capability (IOC) and other critical program dates

5. The APB: Cost Constraints

This section of the APB shows program-related costs in base year dollars, based on careful risk assessment and cost estimating

6. Development of an Acquisition Strategy is usually done by an Acquisition Strategy IPT, which includes representation from all functional areas, end users, and key stakeholders. A well-defined acquisition strategy will include information on:

Contracting:number and types of contracts, timing, competition, potential sources, source selection approach, and Unique Identification (UID) implementation

Funding :Type and year of appropriations, funding source agreements, and affordability analysis

Cost :CAIV objectives, cost estimates, and identifying

Systems Engineering : Technology and product solutions, including commercial and non-developmental items; open systems architectures; modeling and simulation; and environmental, safety and occupational health considerations; baseline system performance thresholds and objectives; corrosion prevention and control; and interoperability

Test & Evaluation :Types of testing, timing of testing, test articles including quantities and sources, modeling and simulation, and resources such as test ranges

Software development :System integration, sources, re-use, open systems architecture, data rights, and computer resource life cycle management

Support Strategy :life cycle sustainment addressing design for supportability, all applicable support requirements, and Performance Based Logistics (PBL) approach.

Production :Design for producibility; low-rate initial production (LRIP) schedule; and production quantities, including long lead procurement items

Management :Risk management, including planning, assessment, handling, and monitoring of cost, schedule and performance risk; earned value management reports, if required, to track contractor progress; and any international considerations related to the program.

Much of this functional information can be found in the Program Structure Chart, used to show specific dates for critical events, including acquisition program phases, decision milestones, program and technical reviews, major deliveries, T&E periods, RFP/contract information, and other important scheduling information. The sequence and interrelationship of activities as the team progresses through the acquisition program is of significant importance in the program structure chart. The program structure chart should be consistent with the schedule parameters in the APB. The demonstration of program interrelationships is at the heart of the IPT approach, where the actions and expertise of each team member can either help or hinder the team's overall ability to deliver a successful end product.

Remember, as in any IPT-based program, the team can be made up of different members depending on the nature of the acquisition program itself, and the expertise needed to make it successful. Because the Firebird is an ACAT II program, the management chain will include the Program Executive Office, while the Army Service Acquisition Executive (SAE) will be acting as the MDA.

7. International Cooperation involves the collaboration of foreign governments and related organizations during any stage of the acquisition cycle. Congress requires DoD to determine if there are allied or other friendly nations with whom we can cooperate on major systems development. Also, the acquisition strategy should address the potential for international cooperative research, development, production, logistics support, or sale. Some of the possible attractions of international involvement include:

A foreign government sharing in the cost of development
An opportunity to incorporate emerging technology from abroad
Possible lower production costs through increased foreign competition, by encouraging international producers to compete with domestic sources
Promoting interoperability of our systems with those of our allies, providing a warfighting advantage in multi-national warfighting coalitions

Some of the possible problems with international involvement include:

Political differences or economic problems with partners that can delay programs
Possible dependency on foreign sources
Security issues associated with technology transfer between countries can take a long time to resolve, which can lead to program delays
Economic considerations for the US industrial base when foreign competition is introduced
Legal and administrative requirements for international participation including coordination with the State Department

The type of contract decision is based upon which of the following?

Answer:

Allocation of cost risk between the parties

Which one of the following organizations would evaluate measures of effectiveness (MOEs) to determine how well a munitions system can perform its mission?

Answer:

Marine Corps Operational Test and Evaluation Activity (MCOTEA)

Wrong Answers:

The Answer is Not: Joint Interoperability Test Command (JITC)

Link:

ELO: 29b. Identify the key T&E support organizations within DoD

Of the following types of contracts, which one gives the contractor the most incentive to control costs?

Answer

Firm Fixed Price

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ELO: 13c. Relate the effect of the various types of contracts on contractor motivation.

Which of the following describes DoD's policy on acquiring data rights?

Answer:

Acquire only those data rights that are essential to meeting minimum government needs

Wrong Ansers:

Acquire the maximum data rights possible within the scope of the contract
Acquire restricted data rights to protect the contractor's right to use, modify, reproduce, release or disclose data to the general public
Acquire unlimited data rights unless there is compelling justification to do otherwise.

Link:

ELO: 14d. Identify the policy and concepts involved in theacquisition of data rights.

Budgeting Process Summary

The following learning objectives are covered in this lesson:

Relate the following building blocks to the PPBE process: Future Year Defense Program (FYDP), Major Program (MP), Program Element (PE).
Identify the key events in the budgeting phase, including the preparation, review and decision process associated with the three major documents of the phase: Budget Estimate Submission (BES), Program Budget Decision (PBD), Reclamas.

1. The budgeting phase of the PPBE process focuses on program execution to determine near-term funding requirements. Budgeting is a calendar-driven process, resulting in the DoD portion of the President's Budget, which is submitted to Congress in February each year.

2. The services, in the even years, prepare their combined Program Objectives Memorandum (POM) and Budget Estimate Submission (BES). The POM and BES update the Future Years Defense Program (FYDP). The BES covers two years (such as FY 02 and FY 03). During the odd years, services only submit changes to the previous year's combined POM and BES. Changes to the POM are known as Program Change Proposals (PCPs), while changes to the BES are known as Budget Change Proposals (BCPs).

3. The BES is submitted to the OSD Comptroller. Occasionally the OSD Comptroller will send a list of "Advance Questions" about specific areas of the budget. In the Fall, after receiving responses to the advance questions, analysts from the OSD Comptroller and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) hold hearings to review appropriations or specific programs. The analysts typically examine program pricing and phasing, compliance with funding policies, and budget execution. After reviewing these areas, the OSD Comptroller analyst may prepare a draft Program Budget Decision (PBD). The draft PBD is used to make adjustments to the BES, generally reducing the amount of funding.

The draft PBD is provided to the services and defense agencies for comment, at which point they are allowed to provide an alternate position, known as a reclama.
A reclama provides an opportunity to explain problematic areas in the budget and refute proposed budget cuts. Reclamas should always be based on fact and provide an objective evaluation of the implications of the proposed cuts.

After considering the reclama, the OSD analyst makes the decision whether to withdraw, amend, or submit the original version of the PBD. If not withdrawn, this final draft version of the PBD will include all information regarding the original PBD and the associated reclama. It is then sent to the DEPSECDEF, who ultimately makes the decision to sign off on : thus finalizing : the PBD.

While programming and budgeting are ongoing, the Execution Review phase is also ongoing. The results of execution review will be used to make decisions about how to best allocate resources.

The PBD and changes that occur during programming will be incorporated as part of the DoD portion of the President's Budget. The FYDP is then updated to reflect the President's Budget, thus ending the budgeting phase of the PPBE process.