Air force print news (Sept. 2, 2004): report shows space programs improving.WASHINGTON -- Space programs are improving and cultural change is under way, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. a recent review of the May 2003 Task Force on Acquisition of National Security Space (NSS (Novell Storage Services) A 64-bit file system introduced with NetWare 5 that can support terabyte-sized files. NSS files and standard NetWare files can be used in the same server. See NetWare 5. 1. (networking) NSS - Nodal Switching System. ) Programs report. In the 2003 findings, the task force had called for a one-year progress report. The results of that progress report were briefed Aug. 24. Under Secretary of the Air Force Peter B. Teets released a summary of the task force findings to the media and highlighted efforts to facilitate change in space programs. The Air Force serves as Department of Defense Executive Agent for Space, and Teets is also director of the National Reconnaissance Office Noun 1. National Reconnaissance Office - an intelligence agency in the United States Department of Defense that designs and builds and operates space reconnaissance systems to detect trouble spots worldwide and to monitor arms control agreements and environmental . A. Thomas Young Noun 1. Thomas Young - British physicist and Egyptologist; he revived the wave theory of light and proposed a three-component theory of color vision; he also played an important role in deciphering the hieroglyphics on the Rosetta Stone (1773-1829) Young chaired the Defense Science Board and Air Force Scientific Board joint Task Force on Acquisition of NSS Programs, and he shared highlights of his findings in the one-year review. Young praised what he called an extraordinary cultural change that took place in only one year. "Overall, our reaction was quite positive," he said. "We found some areas where corrective actions A corrective action is a change implemented to address a weakness identified in a management system. Normally corrective actions are instigated in response to a customer complaint, abnormal levels if internal nonconformity, nonconformities identified during an internal audit or were effectively complete, and we found some areas that require significant attention. We recognized that there is a lot going on in the world of National Security Space. There are operational systems that we have to worry about every day. We did not expect to find all the areas completed, but we did expect to find all of them being treated seriously. So we were quite pleased with the progress we observed." In the 2003 report, the task force had recommended both near-term solutions to serious problems on critical space programs and long-term Long-term Three or more years. In the context of accounting, more than 1 year. long-term 1. Of or relating to a gain or loss in the value of a security that has been held over a specific length of time. Compare short-term. recovery from systemic systemic /sys·tem·ic/ (sis-tem´ik) pertaining to or affecting the body as a whole. sys·tem·ic adj. 1. Of or relating to a system. 2. problems. The report was highly critical of space acquisition, stating that the erosion of the government's acquisition management capabilities occurred over a period of years. The task force concluded that without significant improvements, the government acquisition workforce is unable to manage the current portfolio of NSS programs or new programs currently under consideration. The report also stated that the team found systemic problems in space acquisition. Their findings and conclusions identified requirements definition and control issues, unhealthy cost bias in proposal evaluation, a lack of budget reserves needed to implement high-risk high-risk adjective Referring to an ↑ risk of suffering from a particular condition Infectious disease Referring to an ↑ risk for exposure to blood-borne pathogens, which occurs with blood bank technicians, dental professionals, dialysis unit programs on schedule, and an overall under-appreciation of the importance of appropriately staffed and trained system engineering staffs to manage space programs and technologies. "They found some serious weaknesses in the acquisition activities and made some very insightful observations and, frankly, helped me to update the [acquisition] policy for National Security Space and implement some reforms," Teets said. "While they may take a while to take hold, [the reforms] will really benefit the community in the long term." The root cause of the problems was the large collection of policies and procedures Policies and Procedures are a set of documents that describe an organization's policies for operation and the procedures necessary to fulfill the policies. They are often initiated because of some external requirement, such as environmental compliance or other governmental that were put in place in the 1990s and that had unintended consequences For the "Law of unintended consequences", see Unintended consequence Unintended Consequences is a novel by author John Ross, first published in 1996 by Accurate Press. and a negative impact on NSS, Young said. He also said the biggest problem NSS faced until last year was that cost had replaced mission as the main focus. "Mission success is back as the primary focus for NSS programs," Young said. "It's reflected in policy direction and leadership actions. Reversal of this process is quite striking. There's no question in our minds that mission success is back in the proper place as the driver for the program. This is a cultural change. It is quite extraordinary. "There are thousands of engineers working on space programs," Young explained. "And they're all making some little decision that's below the radar of this [report]. And if they think we want them to make that decision based on cost and not on mission success, they're probably building more risk into the program than we wanted. The fact that this has turned around in a year is extraordinary." The continuing improvements demonstrated by the report reinforce the Air Force's basic tenet TENET. Which he holds. There are two ways of stating the tenure in an action of waste. The averment is either in the tenet and the tenuit; it has a reference to the time of the waste done, and not to the time of bringing the action. 2. that assured access to space is key to national security. "We'll never get each and every program just right," Young said, "but we can do pretty well at the portfolio. In other words Adv. 1. in other words - otherwise stated; "in other words, we are broke" put differently , I think that the probability of being able to get it right for the entire portfolio of national space programs is very high." by Tech. Sgt. David A. Jablonski |
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