The Pentagon’s New Acquisition Diet: Less Bureaucracy, More Swagger
By someone who remembers when a DoD RFP had the word “simplified” in it, unironically. All opinions are my own. It started, as most federal shakeups do, with a signature, a pen, and a podium flanked by too many flags. On April 9, 2025, President Donald J. Trump signed Executive Order 14192 : “Modernizing Defense Acquisitions and Spurring Innovation in the Defense Industrial Base.” If that sounds like a lot of words to say “DoD, go faster,” you’re not wrong. But in true Trumpian fashion, it wasn’t just a policy. It was a statement. A dare. A late-stage sequel to acquisition reform efforts going back to Goldwater-Nichols, with less red tape and more red meat. “Cancel it. Fix it. Or move it to the private sector.” At the heart of EO 14192 is a not-so-gentle command: The Pentagon is to review every Major Defense Acquisition Program (MDAP) —you know, the big ones, the billion-dollar behemoths that fund entire congressional districts—and determine if they’re behind schedule or ov...