Letter: Problems with acquisitions go unrecognized

A reader writes that training alone will not solve problems with acquisitions.

Regarding "Editorial: Acquisition on the agenda"

If it was only as simple as more acquisition workforce training. Contracting officers are the only visible part of the requirements iceberg.

The requirements themselves are the direct responsibility of program people and the management structure(s) they reside in. Until word gets out to these parties that they are accountable, and will be held accountable, for managing requirements, correctness and creep, there is little a contracting officer can do on his or her own to get them "right."

Recognizing the problem is the first part of getting to a solution; I don't think we are ready to leave the recognition stage yet.

Phil Kiviat
Guerra Kiviat, Inc.

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