The House Armed Services Committee’s subcommittee on readiness has proposed eliminating a statute that Defense Department officials have said bogs down the acquisition process.
The committee’s National Defense Authorization Act proposal, released April 21, includes a section that would repeal a statute requiring every major defense acquisition program to submit a detailed manpower estimate before the program’s approval. 
The intent of the manpower cost estimate is to ensure that total lifecycle and sustainment costs are considered before embarking on an acquisition program, and so personnel and training needs are evaluated in time to make any necessary changes, the legislation stated. However, other planning, inventory and reporting requirements coded in U.S. law are already sufficient in ensuring those goals, it said.
Earlier this month at the Association of the U.S. Army’s global force symposium and exposition, Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics, and Technology Heidi Shyu lamented that bureaucratic laws keep government workers filing out documentation instead of moving forward on a program. She told reporters that the manpower estimate requirement was one example of the paperwork overload that is crushing military program managers.
The HASC readiness subcommittee is responsible for ensuring that military equipment is properly maintained. Its NDAA proposal directs the U.S. Comptroller General to identify companies that are the single source of supply or assembly of a component or system used in a piece of military equipment.
It would also require the Pentagon to rethink how it gets rid of equipment no longer needed by the military. “The committee remains concerned about the improper disposition of excess equipment, especially equipment returning from the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) area of responsibility,” the legislation said. Defense Department Inspector General reports have shown that the military has thrown out equipment it could have repurposed or has had to purchase again.
Additionally, its defense authorization act proposal would prohibit the Defense Department from purchasing bulk alternative fuels unless they are cost-competitive with traditional fuels.
The subcommittee will meet April 22 to debate the NDAA.