Andrew P Brickson

Need for Rapid Acquisition Programs in the Army to Face an Adaptive Enemy Andrew P Brickson

Publisher Marketing: The purpose of this paper is to explore the necessity of having and maintaining a form of rapid acquisition capability within the Army. Future challenges envisioned by President Bush are presented to the United States military forces by an adaptive enemy during operations in support of the current Global War on Terrorism in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Rapid Equipping Force (REF) and the Rapid Fielding Initiative (RFI) are two recent Army initiatives developed to bridge capability gaps outside the traditional acquisition cycle in order to successfully combat an adaptive enemy in wartime. Supported through large amounts of temporary GWOT supplemental verses planned funding as part of the Army's Program Objective Memorandum, REF and RFI provide necessary equipment to operational commanders during the Army's largest equipment fielding effort since World War II. Both organizations reside outside the normal traditional acquisition infrastructure of the Army but are complimentary in mission scope and nature. These lessons learned from REF and RFI success demonstrate, at a minimum, the need to maintain and incorporate a system of rapid acquisition within the current Army acquisition process and the Army Force Generation in order to provide the best possible wartime support to tactical and operational commanders.