Acquisitions Leader Urges Innovation, Technical Excellence

By Michele Eaton

88th Air Base Wing

WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio, June 24, 2015 – The Defense Department’s top acquisitions official commended the Air Force for its efforts to streamline and save money in a challenging fiscal environment during his speech yesterday at the Air Force Institute of Technology here.

Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisitions, Technology and Logistics Frank Kendall spoke to approximately 1,000 DoD acquisitions personnel at AFIT’s campus. The speech was carried live by videoconference during the Defense Acquisition University Acquisition Insight Focus-sponsored event.

Kendall emphasized the need for the U.S. military to achieve dominant capabilities through technical excellence and innovation and to continue to strengthen a culture of cost-consciousness and professionalism.

DoD Can ‘Get Better’

“We can all get better at what we do,” Kendall said. “This is about building capacity within our departments.”

Better Buying Power 3.0 is aimed squarely at improving the acquisitions process, he said.

Kendall said the program provides a framework for keeping programs affordable, incentivizing productivity and innovation in government and industry, eliminating unproductive processes and bureaucracy in acquisitions, promoting effective competition, improving acquisition tradecraft, and enhancing professionalism in the total acquisition workforce.

“Keep working on your professionalism,” he said. “Keep looking for your opportunities to learn more and have more responsibility. Keep in mind the importance of cost. Keep in mind the importance of technical excellence.”

Kendall added, “There’s nothing magical about this.”