IT Acquisition Reform Needed to Ensure Warfighters' Future
Equipment must work immediately and everywhere.
The U.S. military must change the way it procures information systems if it is to be able to meet the needs of the future warfighter, according to the top U.S. military communicator. Lt. Gen. Dennis Via, USA, J-6, The Joint Staff, told the Monday luncheon audience at MILCOM 2010 that the future will feature persistent conflict, constrained resources and compressed decision cycles. "We can't continue to procure [information technology] systems the way we procure weapon systems," Gen. Via stated. He believes that senior-level work underway at the Defense Department should lead to changes soon. Forces must be able to "fight upon arrival" in theater, he emphasized. Troops have to be trained well so that they will be effective when they get on the ground. They should not require time "to try to sort it out." In addition to training, this aspect also affects equipping efforts. For example, spectrum must be taken into consideration when acquiring new systems. Not only is spectrum a finite resource, systems must be able to work anywhere in the world during a deployment, which requires spectrum compatibility, the general pointed out.
