The Defense Acquisition Guidebook

By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Jerry_O_Smith]Jerry O Smith
The Defense Acquisition Guidebook has had a lot of changes made to it lately. With the economy being in the condition that it is in, and with the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan having cost the United States billions of dollars it has been decided that the Department of Defense must cut their spending drastically. Aside from wars, most of the spending done by the government has been for defense contracts. These contracts are given out to local and foreign companies to help improve the conditions of the United States armies. However, lately the problem is that many of these contracts have been over-valued and have under-performed. A lot of money has been spent and not a lot of results have come out of it.
That is why the Defense Acquisition Guidebook has been altered by the Secretary of Defense and his undersecretary. Together, they have come up with steps to ensure that at least a billion dollars is cut in the next five to ten years from the military's budget. This can only be achieved by letting go of the most expensive contracts that are not producing results. These contracts are mostly those that were looking to see returns in the distant future. Some of them are contracts that will not see weapons produced until 2020, or something of the sort. Yet for years no progress has been made and they have been canceled.
From now on, every defense contract that is undertaken by the government will only be done so if there are clear indications that it is necessary. For example, there are plenty of drones in the military so a new contract to produce better, more advanced drones is not a high priority. While it may be in the future, a trillion dollar deficit demands that these things are left aside for now. They may have been feasible in the past but in an era of cost cutting they are not.
Another aspect that must be altered is the amount of money that was given out to foreign sub contractors. This was done in Afghanistan and Iraq, and almost no results came from it. These sub contractors were locals, or people from the region, who would then coordinate with local companies to get the work done that was required. The mistake was made to trust them instead of American companies, and that mistake must not be made in the future. Contracts must be made with American companies as that serves two purposes. It helps our economy and the work done is more reliable and there is greater accountability.
Understanding the [http://www.wbresearch.com/defenselogisticsusa/defense-acquisition-guidebook.aspx]Defense Acquisition Guidebook is important in order to successfully navigate the procurement process of the US military. Visit our website to learn more.
Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com/?The-Defense-Acquisition-Guidebook&id=6649997] The Defense Acquisition Guidebook