If Principi holds any high cards, he’ll have to play’em fast. The BRAC panel’s final deliberations start Wednesday and supposedly end Friday. Their final recommendation must go to President Bush by Sept. 8, and it has to go to the printer.
The emphasis on speed in the Pentagon’s newly unveiled slate of acquisition reforms may come with increased near-term cost increases, analysts say. But according to U.S. defense officials, the new weapons-buying construct provides the military with enough flexibility to prevent runaway budget overruns in major programs.

