Review of the Future of the U.S. Aerospace Infrastructure and Aerospace Engineering Disciplines to Meet the Needs of the Air Force and the Department of Defense (2001) / Chapter Skim
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Executive Summary
Executive Summary
Pages 1-7
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ORIGINS OF THIS STUDY The Principal Deputy to the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition requested that the National Research Council (NRC) review the Air Force's planned acquisition programs to determine if, given its scale, the highly talented scientific, technical, and engineering personnel base could be maintained, to identify issues affecting the engineering and science work force, and to identify issues affecting the aerospace industry's leadership in technology development, innovation, and product quality, as well as its ability to support Air Force missions.
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The committee focused its attention on the trends and issues with the most serious impact on the defense aerospace sector of the aerospace industry, and the committee's recommendations are focused on remedies available to the Air Force. After reviewing the economic health of the aerospace industry; the Air Force and industry S&T talent base; the quality of test facilities and support capabilities; relevant DoD policies, regulations, and procedures; and management in principal government, industry, and academic organizations the committee made the following general observations: .
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, it must give the problem the kind of continuing attention that it gives to other serious matters. This attention includes the following: Raising the level of attention by establishing a deputy chief of staff who is also a member of the Air Force Council to oversee the Air Force's technical resources; Creating an ongoing assessment of Air Force technical resources and planning what to do to ensure their quality; Paying attention to all elements of the technical spectrum, including S&T, whichis necessary although not sufficient, as well as R&D, design, and production; Considering separately the health of industry and inhouse labs, the efficacy of program management, and the health of universities and doing what is necessary to ensure their continued health in supporting the Air Force; and Making sure the technical community fully understands the Air Force's need for and commitment to high-quality, leading-edge technology and the role of Air Force technology and acquisition people.
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to protect investments that support technical personnel. Ongoing assessments should include the following esti mates: · The number of uniformed and civil service technical personnel necessary now and in the future, including skills, technical specialties, and years of experience; The organizational base and operating requirements to support the Air Force's long-term technology needs, including size, skills, and responsibilities for universities and in-house laboratories performing scientific and technical research, industrial contractors that the Air Force considers essential to maintaining a competitive supplier base, organizations the Air Force intends to sustain as sole suppliers in particular areas, and Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs)
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The Air Force and DoD as a whole are a monopsony customer for much of the aerospace industry and therefore have significant influence over the supplier base and infrastructure. Despite changes in DoD policy requiring that all of the services increase their use of commercial off-the-shelf products and modify their procedures to accommodate commercial practices, the Air Force still depends on the aerospace defense industry for high-quality, Air Force-unique products.
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Civil service regulations, which apply to the government service white-collar administrative force, the blue-collar work force, and the technical work force, use standardized processes that are poorly suited to meet the demands of government laboratories performing leading-edge research. Inflexible civil service regulations, hiring practices, employment conditions, and salary structures have resulted in a serious decline in government technical talent, and more and more bench-scale technical work is being contracted out to industry and university laboratories.
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Recommendation X The Air Force should communicate a strong, positive message describing its technical plans and opportunities and ensure that this message is broadly distributed to students, faculties, industry, and the general technical community.
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