Acquisition Book of Knowledge

By Anthony M. Taylor

Article published on: April 1st 2024

Read Time: < 6 mins

Explosion sending debris into the air in a large open desert area with mountains in the background

Combat Speed Sgt. Maj. of the U.S. Army Michael A. Grinston unveils the new M10 Booker Combat Vehicle during the Army Birthday Festival at the National Museum of the U.S. Army, Fort Belvoir, Virginia, June 10, 2023. The new AR 70-1 will accelerate delivery of critical capabilities to Soldiers, such as vehicles like these. (Photo by Bernardo Fuller, Army Multimedia and Visual Information Division)

“The newly published Army Regulation 70-1 represents a significant update for Army acquisition policy. For the first time, it makes permanent in Army regulation a comprehensive suite of policies that will help to accelerate the speed of acquisition and delivery of critical capabilities, encourage and empower our program managers to employ flexible and creative acquisition approaches, and accelerate the Army’s digital transformation. This policy change is a critical enabler in achieving positive acquisition outcomes.”

—Margaret Boatner, deputy assistant secretary of the Army for strategy and acquisition reform, January 2024

 

In the midst of the Army’s most significant modernization effort in decades, the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology (OASA(ALT)) plays a pivotal role in ensuring critical capabilities are developed and fielded to the warfighter. To be successful, the Army Acquisition Workforce must have clear, consistent guidance that enables that workforce to effectively navigate the complexities of the defense acquisition system.

The latest revision of Army Regulation (AR) 70-1 “Army Operations of the Adaptive Acquisition Framework,” published on Nov. 28, 2023, is the guidance and critical enabler that allows the OASA(ALT)’s acquisition leaders and practitioners to perform that pivotal role. As the Army’s foundational acquisition regulation, AR 70-1 now permanently codifies the latest in defense acquisition policies and innovative thinking, enabling speed, creativity, flexibility and the Army’s digital transformation effort.

Enables Acquisition Speed

One of the tenets of the Adaptive Acquisition Framework is to simplify acquisition policy. Implementation of the Middle Tier of Acquisition achieves this by bridging a gap in the defense acquisition system for mature capabilities that can be prototyped and fielded rapidly, within five years of program start.

The Honorable Ellen Lord, former undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment, described the Adaptive Acquisition Framework as “the most transformational acquisition policy change we’ve seen in decades.” The framework, she said, allows for “innovative acquisition approaches that deliver warfighting capability at the speed of relevance.” (See “How Relevant Is Speed?” in the Spring 2021 issue of Army AL&T.)

That speed of relevance is now codified in AR 70-1, which guides the Army acquisition enterprise with both speed of relevance and speed of service. This is evident in Army aviation’s Future Long Range Assault Aircraft program, which in October 2020 used the Middle Tier of Acquisition Rapid Prototyping Pathway to develop two prototypes and then down-select to one vendor in December 2022, just two years later.

In contrast, it is estimated that the traditional Major Capability Acquisition pathway would have taken three years. Additionally, the Middle Tier of Acquisition pathway enabled the Next Generation Squad Weapon program to divide into two separate efforts: fire control, and weapons and ammunition. The new pathway transitioned from rapid prototyping to rapid fielding in less than 3.5 years, a process that traditionally could have taken nearly five years using the Major Capability Acquisition pathway. It is this combination of pathways that encourages and enables flexibility and creativity.

Emphasizes Tailoring

AR 70-1 now codifies several streamlining initiatives that emphasize tailoring documentation requirements, acquisition approaches and program review requirements to allow for flexibility and creativity. These qualities are amplified not only by the combination of adaptive acquisition pathways but also by employing creative approaches, such as the use of the Simplified Acquisition Management Plan (SAMP) and the Acquisition Category IV (ACAT IV) program. Tailored reviews and focus on relevant acquisition approaches are necessary to define and execute a program result in a customizable acquisition strategy. That is where the SAMP comes into play. The SAMP helps to streamline and accelerate the acquisition process by consolidating program documentation, previously found in multiple standalone products, into one document.

It is this combination of pathways that encourages and enables flexibility and creativity.

Adopted from the special operations community, which comprises approximately 3% of the U.S. Army, SAMPs can now be used for the remaining 97% of the Army by the Army acquisition community. It is a fully tailorable and adaptable document that provides a venue for integrating plans and approaches for engineering, cost, sustainment, test and the overall acquisition approach in pathway but also provides the framework for engineering application requirements. It provides overarching guidance on the application of systems engineering as well as streamlining or tailoring the requirements of the System Engineering Plan (SEP) as it relates to a standalone SEP or having it nested within the Simplified Acquisition Management Plan.

 

6 Pathways

There are six pathways within the Adaptive Acquisition Framework (AAF). Additional information on the pathways, decision points and phases (or equivalents), information requirements and other criteria are identified in DOD Instruction (DODI) 5000.02 and with more specificity in the DODI that corresponds to each AAF acquisition pathway as follows:

  • For urgent capability acquisition (UCA), DODI 5000.81 and paragraph 2-7 of AR 70-1.
  • For Middle Tier of Acquisition (MTA), DODI 5000.80 and paragraph 2-8 of AR 70-1.
  • For Major Capability Acquisition (MCA), DODI 5000.85 and paragraph 2-9 of AR 70-1.
  • For software acquisition, DODI 5000.87 and paragraph 2-10 AR 70-1.
  • For defense business systems (DBS), DODI 5000.75 and paragraph 2-11 of AR 70-1.
  • For acquisition of services, DODI 5000.74 and paragraph 2-12 of AR 70-1.

Additional details and active links to overarching policies, functional policies, service and agency policies, and acquisition guides for each AAF pathway can be found at aaf.dau.edu.

 

AR 70-1 is the culmination of how the Army acquisition community has revamped its internal processes, business model and transformation across the organization to meet the demands of digital transformation.

Conclusion

The wait is over! The Army’s cornerstone regulation for acquisition, AR 70-1 (Army Operation of the Adaptative Acquisition Framework), is published and ready for use. It codifies the latest in defense acquisition policy to accelerate the acquisition speed of development while placing emphasis on tailoring in key requirements as well as creative and innovative approaches to acquisition documentation and processes. The overhaul of these processes will usher the Army acquisition workforce into the era of digital transformation and ensure critical capabilities are delivered to Soldiers at the point of need. It encompasses more than six years of acquisition reform and is the apex acquisition document that provides regulatory guidance to a workforce of more than 32,000 acquisition professionals.

For more information, go to the Army Publishing Directorate website for the new policy https://armypubs.army.mil.

Author

Anthony M. Taylor, a former Army major (field artillery and acquisition), is a senior acquisition policy specialist in the Policy Directorate in the Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army for Strategy and Acquisition Reform, part of the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology. He holds an M.S. in engineering management from Missouri University of Science and Technology and a B.S. in mechanical engineering from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical University. He is a Project Management Professional and DAWIA certified Practitioner in program management and in engineering.