WASHINGTON, Feb. 21, 2017 — Defense Secretary Jim Mattis has distributed guidance to the Defense Department today concerning organizational and structural reforms and establishing cross-functional teams to address mission effectiveness and efficiencies, Pentagon spokesman Navy Capt. Jeff Davis said.
“The secretary has directed the department to address several things,” he said, “[such as] the disestablishment of the office of the undersecretary of defense for acquisitions, technology and logistics, to reform the functions of the chief management officer, and to optimize information management and cyber operations.”
Additionally, DoD will review its core business functions to make those operations more efficient, Davis said.
The memos call upon the department’s personnel to lead an “accelerated and fully transparent effort,” to develop implementation plans for establishing undersecretaries of defense for research and engineering and for acquisition and support. The plan should also include a recommendation for designating a chief information officer.
Additional actions outlined in the memos include improving the function of or developing alternatives for the department’s chief management officer and streamlining business services and tasks that are replicated across service lines.
“We have sometimes allowed our focus on service uniqueness to extend into business operations,” the secretary wrote, “leading to duplication of effort and costs we can no longer afford. To achieve greater departmental efficiency and savings, we must now pursue cross-enterprise consolidation of business activities.”
“This guidance is in accordance with the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2017, and it highlights our commitment toward improving business operations through efficiencies and ensuring we fully fund the most-pressing readiness and modernization activities,” the captain said.
The reviews are due to the defense secretary by the end of the month.
”Secretary Mattis is committed to earning the trust of Congress and the American people by providing for the security of our nation while being the best possible steward of every taxpayer dollar spent on defense,” Davis said.