Describe the roles and responsibilities of the Executive Branch, Congress, and defense industry in Defense Acquisition, and where defense acquisition authority is derived. For this paper, you will need to find an article in the library that relates to the roles and responsibilities of at least one branch of government where acquisition authority is derived.

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•Written communication: Written communication is free of errors that detract from the overall message.
•APA formatting: Resources and citations are formatted according to APA style and formatting.
•Length of paper: typed, double-spaced pages with no less than a two-page paper.
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ANSWER

Defense Acquisition Program and Management

The Executive Branch, Congress, and Defense Industry play crucial roles in the effective management of the Defense Acquisition Program. Acquisition, in this case, refers to the designing, engineering, testing, evaluating, producing, and operating defense systems. The Executive branch includes the President, VP, cabinet and independent agencies such as the OMB (Office of Management and Budget), the NSC (National Security Council), and the DOD. The prominent responsibilities of the Executive include signing legislation into law, which is facilitated by the President and serving as the commander-in-chief (President). This branch is the cornerstone for the creation, enforcement, and implementation of the regulations, laws, and directives developed by the Congress (Brown, 2010). Moreover, it plays an essential role in the definition of programs, budgets, and essentialities in the defense industry, ensuring that it provides supportive contracts of the Defense Programs developed. This is conducted through negotiating with the Congress, who act as the overseers, making essential decisions in DOD, issuing directives, regulations, and contracting with the DOD industry.

The Congress, on the other hand, is bicameral made up of the House of Representatives and the Senate. The USA constitution mandates Congress to declare war, which makes it integral in the matters of the defense industry. Congress is the overseer of the government, regulating by keeping checks and balances to ensure people or public interest are pursued and protected. Regarding the management of the Defense acquisition program, the Congress’ responsibilities and roles include balancing the Executive Branch’s demands and contracts provided in the DOD. In addition, it is their role to perform oversights and reviews regarding this role. While passing legislation, they are involved in the authorization of defense programs and appropriate budgets for funding allocation (Brown, 2010).

As seen in the roles and responsibilities of the Executive branch and the Congress, they play critical roles in matters of the defense industry and national security. It is from these two branches of the USA government that the authority of the defense system’s acquisition is derived. Public law developed by the Congress and the executive directives is the primary sources of DOD defense acquisition authorities (NPS, 2018) Public law, in this case, provides legal and statutory authorities for acquisitions in the DOD, with prominent laws being Federal Acquisition Streamlining Act (FASA) of 1994 and Weapon Systems Acquisition Reform Act (WSARA) of 2009, to mention a few. Most of the applicable laws are found in Title 10, US Code, Armed Forces. The significance of FASA is streamlining the acquisition of DOD systems by the government and changes ways in which the government implements the contracting duties with the defense industry. The WSARA is also significant as it oversees the contraction and purchasing of weapon systems in the defense enterprise (Brown, 2010).

The Executive directives from the Executive branch, such as executive orders and national security directions from the President act as sources of authority and guidance for the defense industry in the acquisition program. Examples include Executive Order 12352 (1982) and 13101(1998), Office of Management and Budget Circular A-11, Federal Acquisition Regulation (1984), and the National Security Decision Directive 219 (1986). Each of these executive directives plays a critical role in guiding the acquisition of defense system. For instance, the OBM Circular A-11 oversees budget preparations and estimations in the acquisition of capital assets. The EO 13101 provides guidelines of greening the defense industry, ensuring the products acquired are eco-friendly. The Federal Acquisition Regulation (1984) presents directives and decisions regarding the procurement procedures of defense systems, also providing extra guidelines on acquisition programs adopted (Brown, 2010).

References

Brown, B. (2010). Introduction to Defense Acquisition Management: Tenth Edition. Fort Belvoir, Virginia. https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a606328.pdf: Defense acquisition university Press.

NPS. (2018). Defense Acquisition/ Program Management. Retrieved from https://nps.edu/web/idarm/defense-acquisition-and-program-management#:~:text=Provides%20an%20advanced%20understanding%20of,in%20the%20defense%20acquisition%20system.