Commentary: Acquiring the Warrior Ethos

  • Published
  • By Chief Master Sergeant Timothy Wieser & Colonel Chadwick Steipp, Air Force Life Cycle Management Center
Acquirers are warriors. They think, plan, and act on Department of War equities every single day. United States ships, aircraft, and vehicles, from the Liberty ships of World War II, to the F-117s of Desert Storm, to the Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles of Iraq and Afghanistan serve as tangible reminders of acquisition as a warfighting function. However, there is a seam between acquirers and operators not easily bridged by the shared practices of military traditions, intelligence briefings, physical training, and career field exchanges. This should not be the case.  Acquisition Transformation must include considerations for how warrior ethos can be enhanced across program office teams. To achieve this goal the authors propose three actions: First, Officer operators should be an integral part of program teams, projecting experience, bona fides, and perspective throughout the acquisition lifecycle. Second, Non-Commissioned Officers (NCOs) and Senior NCOs (SNCOs) should be leveraged across the acquisition enterprise for the subject matter expertise they possess. Finally, Portfolio Acquisition Executives (PAEs) and Program Executive Officers (PEOs) should readily deploy acquirers in liaison capacities to minimize the time and information gaps often experienced between acquisition and operations. Simply stated, the acquisition community can acquire a deeper warrior ethos, and subsequently improve all aspects of acquisition, by making operators integral to program teams, leveraging NCO/SNCO expertise, and establishing embedded acquisition liaisons.

Make Officer Operators Integral to Program Teams

Acquisition is a team sport. It’s multi-disciplinary, multi-echelon, and multi-faceted. Operators bring critical insight to program teams earned through time behind the controls. They also connect the dots between the conference room and the battlefield.  We should welcome them to our program teams. Operational Airmen, Guardians, Marines, Sailors, and Soldiers are the experts in their operational disciplines. They are also much more than just operators, they are thinking warriors. Integrating thinking warriors within our program teams should not be viewed as optional.  It should be viewed as a necessary method for seamlessly executing acquisition in concert with operations.

Too often acquisition program tours for officer operators are viewed negatively. Program tours should be regarded as critical opportunities to influence the overall effectiveness of our weapons systems. This will require operational communities to commit more personnel to program offices. Simultaneously, this will require program offices to highly prioritize operational billets to prevent them from going unfilled. The Warfighting Acquisition System demands it. 

Operator integration throughout program teams does occur today, but it is not universal and can be improved. By integrating more operational expertise with acquisition experience on a visible and consistent basis, the entire acquisition enterprise will be faster, our collective warrior ethos will grow, and the United States Department of War will be more lethal.

Leverage Non-Commissioned Officer Expertise

With approximately 124,000 NCOs/SNCOs the Air Force has a substantial skilled workforce capable of driving acquisition success. The Air Force Lifecycle Management Center currently employs 960 enlisted airmen across 13 Mission Execution Directorates. Each NCO/SNCO brings operational breadth and depth unique to their background.  However, they are traditionally underutilized in the acquisition enterprise. The warrior ethos the enlisted force brings from the field is currently subdued by an acquisition construct unfamiliar with their talents. Unleashing that ethos is imperative to solidifying acquisition as a warfighting function. 

The responsibility of maintaining 39 distinct aircraft types across a total fleet of greater than 5,500 falls to the enlisted maintainer making daily calls on whether an aircraft will fly or fight. Beyond the flightline, Air Force Cyber acquirers and coders commence operations 24/7…365. These maintainers and coders are subject matter experts, well versed in what it takes to ensure machines of war are available and ready. Our enlisted leaders are also experts in the human weapon system capable of elevating the warrior ethos in any organization. They are smart. They are tested. They are thinking warriors. But they may not know the warfighting acquisition system in a way that immediately allows them to contribute. Put them in the meetings, the design reviews, the strategy panels. Send them to acquisition training courses. Enlisted program integration starts with enlisted career field management and ends with program leadership offering a seat at the table. The better we integrate enlisted subject matter experts in our program offices, advising our engineers and program managers, the better we meet today’s and tomorrow’s challenges.

For our newest weapon systems, our enlisted subject matter experts must work shoulder-to-shoulder with officers and civilians to share their hard-earned scar tissue to maximize weapon system performance. For our operational systems we need enlisted members to lead the discussion on operational use, maintenance, and sustainment. When our warfighting systems are finally fielded and deployed across the globe, it is the young NCO who contributes to the program discussions who will be making the calls and leading the teams to employ combat capability. Enlisted teammates bring the warrior ethos to program teams. Leveraging their expertise and experience will take programs to the next level.

Establish Embedded Acquisition Liaison Opportunities

Keeping up with operational requirements is a difficult endeavor for any program team.  Bad actors are constantly iterating to address a gap, seam, or vulnerability. Development programs must evolve before production and production programs must adjust during fielding. Change is difficult but it also presents the opportunity for improvement. We often speak of the kill chain regarding the interoperability of weapon systems. There is also a kill chain internal to acquisition programs connecting the most junior program office acquirer to the daily operator of the system. We can shorten the acquisition kill chain by embedding liaisons from program offices into our combat and combat support units.     
 

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Embedded liaison programs between program offices and operational units are conducted today but not universally implemented across our enterprise. Often, deep connections between programs and operators are born and maintained from personal connections which can fade when specific personnel rotate. Establishing formal liaison programs, supported by PAEs and their operational counterparts would simultaneously extend the reach of the program office and provide a constant face to the operational user. No longer would the program office need to wonder how the product is performing afield, nor the operator be concerned of program ambivalence. This interconnected acquisition kill chain will build bonds beyond career fields and dramatically deepen a shared warrior ethos. 

Conclusion

Warrior ethos across the acquisition enterprise will grow from further integrating officer operators into program teams, leveraging non-commissioned officer expertise, and establishing embedded acquisition liaisons. Operators in program offices bring unparalleled field experience to acquisition decisions. NCOs and SNCOs bring a warrior ethos and experience unique to the enlisted perspective. Embedded liaisons can shorten the acquisition kill chain by extending the reach of the program office while providing a face to the operator. Implementing these recommendations will improve program teams and shift how all acquirers view themselves…as warriors.   

Author biographies:

Chief Master Sergeant Timothy Wieser is the Command Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force Lifecycle Management Center where he leads more than 28,000 personnel as the top enlisted service member. 


Colonel Chadwick Steipp is the Deputy Commander of the Air Force Lifecycle Management Center.