Gen. Bruce Carlson, head of Air Force Materiel Command, wants a program officer who knows what he’s talking about. “I want [the program officer] to have the technical background to be able to answer me instead of finding someone else to answer my question,” Carlson said at the recent Air Force acquisition leaders forum in Charlotte, N.C. He said he intends to make getting more technically qualified young people into acquisition positions one of his new goals. And, he wants to hone these young talents in both acquisition and operations. A couple of years ago, USAF appeared to be rebounding from a shortage of personnel with scientific and engineering backgrounds. However, those personnel were needed primarily in USAF labs. And, there is still concern nationwide over the growing dearth of students graduating in science and technical fields.
A new report from the Government Accountability Office calls for the Pentagon’s Chief Technology Officer to have budget certification authority over the military services’ research and development accounts—a move the services say would add a burdensome and unnecessary layer of bureaucracy.
