A key House panel is proposing to restrict a certain amount of funds available for Air Force logistics Information Technology (IT) programs until the service submits a modernization strategy after the failure of the $1 billion Expeditionary Combat Support System (ECSS).
The House Armed Services Committee Intelligence, Emerging Threats and Capabilities Subcommittee yesterday released its markup of its version of the FY ’14 Defense Authorization Bill. The subcommittee proposed halting the obligation and expenditure of at least 50 percent of Air Force procurement and research, development, test and evaluation (RDT&E) funds for these programs until 30 days after the service submits to the congressional defense committees a report on how it will modernize its logistics IT programs. The Air Force spent $1 billion on ECSS without producing any apparent military capability.
The report would also have to include strategies to address near-term gaps and a long-term modernization plan as well as an analysis of root causes leading to ECSS’ cancellation.
Air Force Secretary Michael Donley recently testified that there are two ECSS reviews underway, one by the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) and one by the Air Force. Donley said the Air Force took numerous steps to try to fix ECSS by twice restructuring the program over a four- or five-year period by holding the program manager accountable and by breaking the program down into smaller chunks for better implementation. Donley said ECSS also was subject to increased oversight from the Air Force, OSD and two other offices.
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| Air Force Secretary Michael Donley. Photo: DoD. |
Donley said earlier this month he’s interested in learning if the reviews can help the service decide earlier on when to pull the plug on underperforming programs (Defense Daily, May 8).
The Air Force estimated in December it would have required an additional $1.1 billion for about a quarter of the original ECSS scope to be produced and fielding wouldn’t have taken place until 2020 (Defense Daily, April 5).
Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.) and former Ranking Member John McCain (R-Ariz.) called ECSS “one of the most egregious examples of mismanagement in recent history” in a December letter to former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta (Defense Daily, Dec. 11).
Another troubled Air Force IT program is the Defense Enterprise Accounting Management System (DEAMS), which is a software endeavor similar to ECSS, but for accounting and management services. DEAMS is 7.5 years behind schedule and its original lifecycle cost estimate has more than quintupled to over $2 billion, according to the Defense Department’s director, operational test & evaluation (DOT&E) office (Defense Daily, Jan. 23).