Navy Secretary Recognizes Acquisition Excellence

By Cmdr. Victor Chen, Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Research, Development and Acquisition Public Affairs

June 14, 2010 - WASHINGTON (NNS) -- Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus recognized more than 40 individuals and commands for improving Department acquisition processes with a combined cost savings to the government of more than $100 million annually during a ceremony at the Pentagon June 14.

"It is because of your efforts, and the thousands of dedicated acquisition professionals that you represent, that our Sailors and Marines have the right tools and equipment to defend our country, serving forward deployed and in combat in Afghanistan and Iraq," said Mabus.

The annual awards included this year's Rear Admiral Wayne E. Meyer Memorial Award presented to Randy Delarm, deputy program executive officer for Enterprise Information Systems, for his work on a portfolio of programs critical to the communications and business management of the Department, including Navy Enterprise Resource Planning, Global Combat Support System-Marine Corps, and Next Generation Enterprise Network.

Other individuals recognized included David Rego of Naval Undersea Warfare Center Division Newport for small business advocacy, Marine Major Stephanie Polesnak for leadership in contracting for forces deployed in U.S. Central Command, and Acquisition Professional of the Year, Robert Holmes, deputy for the P-3/EP-3 program office.

Mabus also took the opportunity to reiterate his goals for the Department in improving acquisition processes.

"Two years ago we entered a new fiscal reality. The recession and economic conditions that confront both our country and the world demand that we look at every single program we have and make every single dollar count. We ought to be doing this anyway, but in light of the economy there is simply no choice," said Mabus.

As first outlined at the 2010 Sea-Air-Space convention, the five principles of improving acquisition processes are clearly identifying requirements, raising the bar on performance, rebuilding the acquisition workforce, supporting the industrial base and "making every dollar count."

Teams recognized for their work included Headquarters, United States Marine Corps, Installations and Logistics for proactively supporting small businesses, Naval Undersea Warfare Center Division Newport Heavyweight Torpedo Competitive Acquisition Team for the first competitive acquisition solicitation for torpedoes in eight years, as well as Naval Facilities Engineering Command – Marianas for its work in preparing for the relocation of 17,000 Marines and dependents from Okinawa to Guam.

"The teams and individuals we honor today have done all these things, in truth they exemplify what the five principles are intended to do. It is because of their efforts that we have improved our relationship with small businesses, that we have increased competition among our vendors, and that we have improved innovation and energy efficiency," said Mabus.

Both the president and the secretary of Defense have charged each of the services to eliminate waste and to do a better job of managing the taxpayer's money.

The Acquisition Excellence awards are presented annually.