Defense Management Challenges Facing DOD in Implementing Defense ReformInitiatives

摘要

I am pleased to be here today to present our observations, based on past andongoing work, on the Department of Defense's (DOD) latest reform initiatives. These initiatives are described in the Defense Reform Initiative (DRI) Report, which was issued by DOD in November 1997. DOD is attempting to bring about a revolution in its business and support operations by identifying and adopting the best business practices from the private sector. Specifically, it is proposing to: reengineer many of its business processes; consolidate and reorganize DOD'S headquarters elements and defense agencies, including the Office of the Secretary of Defense; increase the use of the Office of Management and Budget (0MB) A-76 process to compete DOD'S commercial activities; and conduct two additional rounds of base realignment and closures (BRAC). These actions are intended to reduce the cost of DOD'S business and support activities so that operations and maintenance funds can be freed up to support weapons modernization and readiness needs. In announcing this hearing, you expressed concern about DOD'S record of executing programs designed to achieve infrastructure savings and the potential impact on readiness accounts if current reform initiatives falter in execution. In that context, my comments today will focus on the (1) risks associated with reducing budgets before savings are achieved, (2) challenges associated with implementing DOD'S various business process reengineering initiatives, (3) opportunities to capitalize on consolidation and regionalization opportunities, and (4) underlying management problems that need to be addressed in implementing the reform initiatives. Before discussing my specific observations, I would like to briefly summarize my key points.