US Army’s acting acquisition executive speaks
The US Army’s acting acquisition executive, the Honorable Steffanie Easter, said at AUSA 2017 Global Force Symposium in Huntsville, AL, this week, that the fiscal environment had hurt the army’s future development.
Challenged by a fiscal environment, that has forced the army to delay capability, to stretch out programmes, and in some cases, even cancel them, she also touched on the Army’s 30% drop in Research, Test, Development and Evaluation (RDT&E) funding, saying that, “we have to get a point where we have sustained funding, predictable funding, that we need to properly equip our force.”
Part of what she was referring to was the fact that the Pentagon is currently operating at 2016 fiscal levels, basically the equivalent of last year’s budget. An FY2017 spending bill has passed the House, but not the Senate.
A supplemental budget for FY17 is expected to be revealed soon, along with a blueprint for FY18.