Photo By Petty Officer 2nd Class Sean Hurt | Defense Secretary Ash Carter provides remarks at the 2014 David Packard Award Ceremony...... read more read more
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Defense Secretary Ash Carter and his top acquisition chief presided over an awards ceremony focused on recognizing the acquisitions excellence of four DoD programs here yesterday.
Carter was joined by Frank Kendall, undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics, to present the 2014 David Packard Excellence in Acquisition Award, and the inaugural 2014 Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Should-Cost and Innovation Award.
Acquisition Award’s Namesake
The David Packard Excellence in Acquisition Award, DoD’s highest team award, is named after former deputy defense secretary and acquisition chief David Packard, who was a staunch advocate for excellence in defense acquisition practices.
First awarded in 1997, the award honors Packard, who also was co-founder and chairman of the Hewlett-Packard Company.
Carter noted Packard was the “first person in a leadership position here [who] made acquisition our center of his attention.”
Basics Haven’t Changed
Kendall led the recognition of the award recipients, and shared his thoughts on honoring acquisition excellence and on Packard.
“This is one of the days of the year I enjoy almost more than any other,” he said. “I get to recognize some of the terrific accomplishments of some of our acquisitions professionals.”
“It’s a delight to be able to do that,” Kendall said. “Good things may not be happening everywhere in the world, but they’re certainly happening here. What these people have accomplished is terrific.”
The basics of this business, he said, have not changed at all since 1971 when David Packard was the deputy defense secretary.
“He’s remembered as a terrific manager and technologist,” Kendall said, “[having] started Hewlard-Packard of course, and served very well in government in a number of positions ending up at deputy [defense] secretary.”
Kendall added, “It’s really fitting that we have this award today named for him, because he was a leader in bringing sound management into the department.”
Packard Award Recipients
Kendall explained each Packard recipient’s achievements, beginning with the Air Force’s Advanced Extremely High Frequency Program.
“This program delivered secure mobile satellite communications,” he said. “By purchasing two AEHF satellites together and using comprehensive “should-cost” analysis, this group saved $1.6 billion on its fifth and sixth satellites -- that’s almost two for the price of one.”
Those savings, Kendall said, were reinvested into a current satellite modernization initiative and to make future systems more resilient -- “incredibly” important given the counter-space capabilities being developed by other nations.
Kendall also honored the Intercontinental Ballistic Missile Directorate, which provides “critical” acquisition and sustainment support to U.S. ICBM weapons systems, strengthening the nuclear enterprise.
“Through multi-service, multi-agency, and multinational synchronization,” he said, “this team modernized and replaced nuclear-arming and fuzing capabilities, including new fuzes that last three times as long for two-thirds of the unit cost, making the biggest upgrade to the Minuteman III in 20 years.”
Additionally, Kendall said the team’s “significant” contributions to U.S. nuclear deterrence led to the highest sustained alert rate in 50-year history of the Minuteman weapon system, while delivering more than $1 billion in savings the Air Force used to fund other priorities.
The third Packard award recipient, he said, is the Virginia-Class Submarine Program, which “has a history of delivering not only on time -- a feat unto itself -- but also early and within budget.”
According to Kendall, the program, through negotiation of a contract of more than $17 billion, procured 10 Virginia-class submarines for the price of nine.
“That’s the most submarines under a single contract in 40 years,” he said, “and will help ensure America’s undersea dominance for generations to come.”
Should-Cost and Innovation Award
The inaugural Should-Cost and Innovation Award recipient was the Maritime Patrol and Reconnaissance Aircraft Program office, Kendall said, for its “outstanding” integration of “should-cost” objectives and cost management across all phases of acquisition for the P8-A Poseidon leading to over $5 billion in savings.
“This is one of the many cutting-edge platforms which are deploying to the Asia-Pacific region,” he said, “and our personnel in the field are already calling it a ‘game-changer.’”
Kendall added, “The aircraft’s superior performance makes this team’s savings even more impressive.” He then thanked all of the award recipients.
Championing Acquisition Excellence
Carter also commended the award winners for their accomplishments, and explained the significance of the new Should-Cost Award.
“I’m so proud of the people who are in this room,” Carter said. “‘Should-cost’ is a phrase we began using a few years ago to signify the necessity for all of our program managers -- government and contractor -- to understand every agreement of their cost structure.”
Carter said it was designed so they knew what they were paying, and to know what things should cost -- not just what someone told them it would cost.
These award recipients, he said, are those “that are exemplars of working in the interests of the taxpayer. I commend you all for being champions of that -- congratulations, everyone.”
(Follow Sgt. 1st Class Tyrone Marshall on Twitter: @MarshallDoDNews)
Story by Army Sgt. 1st Class Tyrone C. Marshall Jr., DoD News, Defense Media Activity
| Date Taken: | 05.21.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 07.03.2025 10:00 |
| Story ID: | 503913 |
| Location: | WASHINGTON, US |
| Web Views: | 5 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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