Michael W. Wynne: Acting Under Secretary of Defense (Acquisition, Technology and Logistics) presents Packard Awards.

On Wednesday, Nov. 17, 2004, Acting Under Secretary of Defense (Acquisition, Technology and Logistics) Michael W. Wynne presented the David Packard Award for Acquisition Excellence to three program teams at the annual Program Executive Officer/Systems Commander's Conference luncheon held at Fort Belvoir, Va. The Packard is given to Department of Defense civilian and/or military organizations, groups, and teams who have demonstrated exemplary innovations and best practices in the defense acquisition process. These awards, said Wynne, also reflect achievements that exemplify the goals and objectives established for furthering life cycle cost reduction and acquisition excellence in DoD.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

The 2004 David Packard Excellence in Acquisition Awards were presented to:

1. The B-2 Total System Support Partnership between the Air Force B-2 Program Office and the Northrop Grumman Corporation

2. The Government-wide Purchase Card (GPC) Team of the Air Force 374th Contracting Squadron

3. The DoD EMALL Team at Defense Logistics Agency.

Complimenting the winners, Wynne stated that the winning teams each used new and innovative ways to expand the talents of their people, to extend the life of our materiel, and to stretch the purchasing power of every dollar. They were also able to demonstrate new ways to work with industry and to manage their projects as we head into the 21st century.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

The conference agenda also included many key issues and recommendations for continuous improvement of the acquisition process. These were presented to the attendees for consideration at the conclusion of each conference. In the next edition of Defense AT & L, we will have a more detailed article on the David Packard Excellence in Acquisition Awards program.