F104 ILE Acquisition Program Baseline
An Acquisition Program Baseline (APB) is required for all phases of a Major Defense Acquisition Program (MDAP). The APB meets the legal requirements in federal law, Title 10 USC 2435, 2220 and also DODI 5000.02 for all Acquisition Category (ACAT) programs. The program/project/product/ manager (PM) is responsible for creating the APB based on the user-defined characteristics, and for monitoring baseline thresholds relating to schedule, costs, and Key Performance Parameters (KPPs). Acquisition programs can be reassessed or canceled if they fail to meet these pre-established thresholds. It is imperative that major acquisitions programs be properly managed to curtail excessive growth. Programs failing to meet thresholds come under heavy congressional scrutiny. These programs can be terminated for failing to meet:
Schedule; Schedule dates are monitored in the APB, set against key benchmarked activities, such as program milestones and the initial operability.1 PMs monitor this schedule and any breach of original threshold is reported to congress in the spirit of the Nunn-McCurdy Breach.
Costs; The PM is responsible for quarterly reporting of costs in ACAT I programs. Costs in excess of 15% of APB threshold require a report to Congress within 30 days. Programs in excess of 25% of baseline require exceptions from Secretary of Defense and congressional approval.
Performance; Programs can also be terminated if they fail to meet KPP’s or measurable parameters of military capability. Three KPPs are congressionally directed: (1) Force protection, (2) sustainment and (3) net readiness/interoperability. Additionally, there are two selectively applied KPPs, of system training and energy efficiency.
The APB is important in order to prevent excessive growth in defense acquisition programs. PMs create and monitor APB and report progress on schedule, costs, and performance as required by law. PM’s can take necessary corrective steps when programs deviate from
Schedule; Schedule dates are monitored in the APB, set against key benchmarked activities, such as program milestones and the initial operability.1 PMs monitor this schedule and any breach of original threshold is reported to congress in the spirit of the Nunn-McCurdy Breach.
Costs; The PM is responsible for quarterly reporting of costs in ACAT I programs. Costs in excess of 15% of APB threshold require a report to Congress within 30 days. Programs in excess of 25% of baseline require exceptions from Secretary of Defense and congressional approval.
Performance; Programs can also be terminated if they fail to meet KPP’s or measurable parameters of military capability. Three KPPs are congressionally directed: (1) Force protection, (2) sustainment and (3) net readiness/interoperability. Additionally, there are two selectively applied KPPs, of system training and energy efficiency.
The APB is important in order to prevent excessive growth in defense acquisition programs. PMs create and monitor APB and report progress on schedule, costs, and performance as required by law. PM’s can take necessary corrective steps when programs deviate from