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TITLE VIII--ACQUISITION POLICY, ACQUISITION MANAGEMENT, AND RELATED MATTERS

Public Law 108-136

House Conference Report 108-354

SEC. 848. LIMITED ACQUISITION AUTHORITY FOR COMMANDER OF UNITED STATES JOINT FORCES COMMAND.

(a) THREE-YEAR AUTHORITY TO DELEGATE ACQUISITION AUTHORITY- (1) Chapter 6 of title 10, United States Code, is amended by inserting after section 167 the following new section:

`Sec. 167a. Unified combatant command for joint warfighting experimentation: acquisition authority

`(a) LIMITED ACQUISITION AUTHORITY FOR COMMANDER OF CERTAIN UNIFIED COMBATANT COMMAND- The Secretary of Defense may delegate to the commander of the unified combatant command referred to in subsection (b) authority of the Secretary under chapter 137 of this title sufficient to enable the commander to develop and acquire equipment described in subsection (c). The exercise of authority so delegated is subject to the authority, direction, and control of the Secretary.

`(b) COMMAND DESCRIBED- The commander to whom authority is delegated under subsection (a) is the commander of the unified combatant command that has the mission for joint warfighting experimentation, as assigned by the Secretary of Defense.

`(c) EQUIPMENT- The equipment referred to in subsection (a) is as follows:

`(1) Equipment for battle management command, control, communications, and intelligence.

`(2) Any other equipment that the commander referred to in subsection (b) determines necessary and appropriate for--

`(A) facilitating the use of joint forces in military operations; or

`(B) enhancing the interoperability of equipment used by the various components of joint forces.

`(d) EXCEPTIONS- The authority delegated under subsection (a) does not apply to the development or acquisition of a system for which--

`(1) the total expenditure for research, development, test, and evaluation is estimated to be $10,000,000 or more; or

`(2) the total expenditure for procurement is estimated to be $50,000,000 or more.

`(e) INTERNAL AUDITS AND INSPECTIONS- The commander referred to in subsection (b) shall require the inspector general of that command to conduct internal audits and inspections of purchasing and contracting administered by the commander under the authority delegated under subsection (a).

`(f) TERMINATION- The Secretary may delegate the authority referred to in subsection (a) only during fiscal years 2004 through 2006, and any authority so delegated shall not be in effect after September 30, 2006.'.

(2) The table of sections at the beginning of such chapter is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 167 the following new item:

`167a. Unified combatant command for joint warfighting experimentation: acquisition authority.'.

(b) COMPTROLLER GENERAL REPORT- The Comptroller General shall review the implementation of section 167a of title 10, United States Code, as added by subsection (a), and submit to Congress a report on such review not later than two years after the date of the enactment of this Act. The review shall cover the extent to which the authority provided under such section 167a has been used.

The Senate amendment contained a provision (sec. 861) that would give the Commander, U.S. Joint Forces Command (JFCOM), the authority to acquire systems with research, development, test and evaluation expenditure levels up to $10.0 million or procurement expenditure levels up to $50.0 million for the purpose of facilitating joint operations or enhancing interoperability.

The House bill contained no similar provision.

The House recedes with an amendment that would give the Secretary of Defense the discretion for three years to give the Commander, JFCOM limited acquisition authority and require the Comptroller General to report on the implementation of this section two years after the date of enactment of this Act.

Senate Report 108-046

The committee recommends a provision that would give the Commander, U.S. Joint Forces Command (JFCOM), the authority to acquire systems with research, development, test and evaluation expenditure levels up to $10.0 million or procurement expenditure levels up to $50.0 million for the purpose of facilitating joint operations or enhancing interoperability. The successful use of the Special Operations Command acquisition authority below the acquisition category (ACAT) 1 level illustrates the transformation benefits of having a joint buyer, close to the user, maintain a streamlined acquisition process to deliver low dollar threshold systems rapidly to the warfighter.

The committee is concerned that urgent joint warfighting requirements are not always conceived, developed, and fielded in the most expeditious manner. Such long-standing requirements include: a joint, comprehensive blue force tracking capability; a joint, interoperable air, sea, and ground combat identification system; and a joint simulations and modeling capability essential for evaluating joint warfighting concepts development. Recent military operations have further demonstrated the high risk of fratricide on the modern battlefield and re-emphasized the need for comprehensive, interoperable combat identification and blue force tracking architectures. The committee urges the Secretary of Defense, through the Commander, JFCOM, to use this limited acquisition authority to address such joint warfighting challenges. As the command responsible for joint experimentation and joint concepts development, JFCOM, through this authority, would have the ability to rapidly respond to the joint warfighting needs JFCOM identifies, as well as to satisfy the requirements of the regional combatant commanders for solutions that otherwise may not be provided by the individual services.