NDIA National Summit on Acquisition, Research, Test and Evaluation

Program Manager, July-August, 2001 by Collie J. Johnson

"It's Time to Revitalize Test and Evaluation in the Department of Defense"

The mood at the National Defense Industrial Association's recent Acquisition, Research, Test and Evaluation National Summit could best be described as "jubilant." Many of those attending the three-day summit in Long Beach, Calif., had just heard the good news. For the first time in many years, the President had put modernization of test and evaluation right up front with his highest budget priorities.

"If you walked past my house recently, you would have heard a lot of crashing noises inside. That was me trying to do handsprings when the President's initial budget first came out. I wasn't sure I could believe my eyes," said Philip Coyle, former Director, Operational Test and Evaluation, who delivered the summit keynote address.

After years of declining budgets for Research, Development, Test and Evaluation (RDT&E), the Bush Administration was advocating $2.6 billion for Defense RDT&E. Specifically:

"Leap-ahead technologies for new weapons and intelligence systems improvements for the laboratory and test range Infrastructure technologies aimed at reducing the cost of weapons and intelligence systems and funding to continue research, development, and testing of the missile defense program."

Mayor's Welcome

The budget increase announced, the summit continued on an upbeat note as conference organizers brought out Beverly O'Neill, Mayor of the City of Long Beach, who delivered a warm welcome. To paraphrase her message to DoD, "We miss you, but we're surviving."

Prior to 1995, she explained, Long Beach was, in essence, a Navy town for 60 years. With defense downsizing, Long Beach lost the entire Navy presence, which included many members of the acquisition, procurement, and test and evaluation government workforce. According to O'Neill, "We lost 50,000 jobs in this area, our image, and our tax base, and so we've had to drastically change direction for our city."

The Long Beach area is changing dramatically, capitalizing on advanced technology, international trade, and tourism. "The Port of Long Beach is the third largest port complex in the world, so we have international trade that is growing daily, and increased technological presence, which offers potential jobs in the future."

She urged Northrop Grumman and Boeing, two major industries located in Long Beach, to present their concerns to DoD at the summit. "I hope that the recommendations and issues you address at this summit are brought forward to DoD and the Congress.

"We have had a long history of contributing to the defense of our nation," she concluded, "and bringing national events of the stature of the Acquisition Summit to Long Beach is a special honor for the city."

Keynote Speaker

Prior to departing DoD in January 2001, Philip Coyle was the Department's longest serving Director of Operational Test and Evaluation. As keynote speaker, he was welcomed as a "patriarch" of test and evaluation, and the man who most influenced the fiscal 2002 budget increase for research, development, testing, and test range infrastructure technologies.

The Conscience of Acquisition

"Testing is the conscience of acquisition," said Coyle. Former Secretary of Defense William Perry first spoke those words, and while Coyle loved the phrase when he first heard it, he has come to wish it weren't so true. "One's conscience is supposed to keep you on the straight and narrow; one's conscience steps in just when you're trying to have some fun. And too often, testing is seen as the spoilsport, the bearer of bad news, or at least cold reality -- and facts and figures that aren't as glowing as the program manager would have wished."

To counter that perception, six years ago Perry articulated five themes for testing, one of which Coyle said cannot be overstated: early involvement of testers in acquisition programs. Yet early involvement is not as common as it should be. Coyle believes part of the reason is because the Services don't want to invest any more resources than required, even though the cost, in essence, would be trivial to most major defense acquisition programs.

Early Involvement and the Test Ranges

Early involvement, he added, is equally important to the test ranges. "The developmental test ranges are how you begin to understand the kind of testing program that you'll be doing... At the highest levels the Services have to see the benefits of new investment in testing, and motivating the Services to add money to test and evaluation is not easy."

Citing the fiscal 2002 budget increase for test range infrastructure technologies, Coyle said, "I believe many of you can take credit for this. A few months ago, at my urging, the Office of Management and Budget visited some of your test ranges. The consistent story they heard from you was your growing need."

One of Coyle's last acts as the DOT&E was signing the DOT&E 2000 Annual Report. This past year's report, he said, for the first time included separate write-ups for each of the major ranges and test facilities, describing what makes each range or test center unique, their level of effort in fiscal 2000, and their infrastructure needs.