Defense Secretary James Mattis speaks at the Association of the U.S. Army (AUSA) annual meeting in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 9, 2017. (Photo by Marc Selinger/Defense Daily)
By Marc Selinger |
@marcselinger
6 years ago |
10/09/2017

Defense Secretary James Mattis expressed optimism Oct. 9 that splitting the undersecretary for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics (AT&L) into two separate positions will help the Department of Defense develop and field new technology more quickly.

Speaking at the Association of the U.S. Army (AUSA) annual meeting in Washington, D.C., Mattis said he “completely” embraces the breakup, which Congress mandated in the fiscal year 2017 defense authorization act.

A large screen shows Defense Secretary James Mattis speaking at the Association of the U.S. Army (AUSA) annual meeting in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 9, 2017. (Photo by Marc Selinger/Defense Daily)
A large screen shows Defense Secretary James Mattis speaking at the Association of the U.S. Army (AUSA) annual meeting in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 9, 2017. (Photo by Marc Selinger/Defense Daily)

“The intention here is that we move faster in research and engineering,” Mattis told a ballroom audience. “We’ve got to straighten out the process.”

The defense authorization act, which President Barack Obama signed into law in December, told DoD to replace the AT&L undersecretary with an undersecretary for research and engineering and an undersecretary for acquisition and sustainment.

The split, which DoD is supposed to finish by Feb. 1, 2018, is designed to increase the department’s focus on innovation at a time when potential adversaries are quickly advancing their capabilities and threatening the U.S. military’s technological edge.

AT&L Undersecretary Ellen Lord, a former Textron [TXT] executive, is overseeing the breakup. Mattis said that her industry background, along with that of Deputy Defense Secretary Pat Shanahan, a former Boeing [BA] executive, will help DoD become better at tapping private-sector technology.

“We’ve got people who know what they’re doing,” Mattis said. “It’s time to roll up our sleeves and get on with it.”

Mattis, who told an Air Force Association conference last month that DoD should expand its communication with industry to increase the military’s access to new technology (Defense Daily, Sept. 20), reiterated that view to the AUSA audience.

“I lived out in Silicon Valley for the three years that I was retired, and I’ve seen what American industry is capable of, from Silicon Valley to Michigan, from Boston to Texas,” said Mattis, who retired from the Marine Corps in 2013. “We have got to open the communication with them much more robustly.”