Never before in DoD acquisitions have Program Managers been provided the speed and flexibility to expedite innovation than that afforded by the recently implemented Adaptive Acquisition Framework (AAF). This groundbreaking policy restructures defense acquisition guidance to improve process effectiveness to increase the speed of innovation for critical defense technologies and services. Coupled with other powerful acquisition tools such as Other Transaction Authorities (OTAs), the AAF provides PMs with multiple pathways for tailoring successful prototyping and delivery of critical technologies directly to the Warfighter and stakeholders. The introduction of the AAF has proved opportune for the U.S. Army who have fully embraced this policy through the emergence of the Synthetic Training Environment (STE) family of programs. This has enabled the U.S. Army to be the premier adopter of two principal pathways associated with the AAF – Middle Tier Acquisition (MTA) and the Software Acquisition Pathway. Through these unique acquisition methodologies, the U.S. Army has been able to accelerate capabilities to the field through a series of informative Soldier Touch Points and Operational Assessments. As an early adopter of these pathways, the U.S. Army is setting a standard for successful implementation on these policies. This paper seeks to expand upon the progress to date by the U.S. Army STE programs on the implementation of these two AAF pathways, as well as provide valuable lessons learned and recommendations for those programs and DoD agencies looking to apply these powerful acquisition tools to emerging defense programs.

Keywords
ACQUISITION MODELS, ADAPTIVE, AGILE SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT, SYNTHETIC ENVIRONMENT

Additional Keywords