Ashley Roque, Theresa Hitchens and Valerie Insinna
WASHINGTON — As part of Pentagon leaders’ quest to rapidly field new weapons, they are revamping how requirements are validated and bidding adieu to the controversial Joint Capabilities Integration and Development System (JCIDS) process.
In an Aug. 20 memo titled “Reforming the Joint Requirements Process to Accelerate Fielding of Warfighting Capabilities,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and his deputy, Steve Feinberg, lay out a roadmap aimed at fielding “new technology and capabilities faster.”
The objective, they note, is threefold: to streamline and accelerate the joint force needs, work with industry earlier in the process, and better integrate requirements determination and resource prioritization to make better budgeting decisions.
While the memo lays out multiple changes, a key provision is the “disestablishment” of JCIDS — a joint staff process for pinpointing gaps in military capabilities, and identifying and validating joint requirements. In turn, the Joint Requirements Oversight Council (JROC), which oversees that process, will stop validating component-level requirement documents.
The JROC comprises the vice chiefs of each military service, and is chaired by the vice chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
The memo, first published [PDF] by NewSpace Nexus earlier this week and confirmed to Breaking Defense by a senior service official, also sets up a Requirements and Resourcing Alignment Board (RRAB) that will be co-chaired by the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the deputy defense secretary.
“Each budget cycle, the RRAB shall select topics from the top-ranked KOP [key operational problems] and nominations from the co-chairs to perform analysis, issue programming guidance, and recommend allocation of funding from the Joint Acceleration Reserve (JAR),” the memo said. “By exception, the RRAB may identify a Component-specific requirement or activity for modification or termination.”
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