Pentagon Cuts Oversight to Speed Up Modeling, Simulation & Training

ORLANDO — The Pentagon is taking decisive action to eliminate unnecessary bureaucratic oversight in its modeling, simulation, and training portfolios, prioritizing speed and flexibility in delivering capabilities to warfighters. Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment Michael Duffey announced the strategic shift during a panel discussion at the 2025 Interservice/Industry Training, Simulation and Education Conference (I/ITSEC) here today.

“Our acquisition strategy has several initiatives focused on testing and modeling, recognizing the need for modernized testing infrastructure, reducing bloated oversight and increasing the number of actual testers and test capacity,” Duffey stated. The move directly supports Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s recent acquisition overhaul, which emphasizes reducing bureaucratic impediments to enable faster fielding of capabilities.

Under the new approach, future Program Acquisition Executives—successors to Program Executive Officers—and program managers will receive expanded authority to make critical trade-offs between requirements and timelines. Rather than pursuing maximum requirements at any cost, leaders can now prioritize schedule adherence when full requirement fulfillment becomes prohibitively expensive or time-consuming.

“For example, in the course of developing a system, if we discover that getting to that maximum requirement becomes schedule prohibitive, [we will empower] that PAE or that PM to be able to make a trade where it’s feasible to reduce the requirement in order to make sure we’re delivering on schedule,” Duffey explained.

Implementing this flexibility will require Congressional engagement to secure necessary legislative authority. However, Duffey emphasized the urgency: the global security environment has deteriorated significantly, making effective, modernized training programs essential for preparing warfighters to succeed in complex modern warfare scenarios.

William Bailey, performing duties as Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics, reinforced this perspective during a separate panel. He highlighted the “increasing crescendo” of demand for complex training environments and questioned the wisdom of delaying capability delivery while pursuing perfect requirement compliance.

“What if that wasn’t a 96 on requirements, but an 85?” Bailey asked rhetorically, underscoring that perfection shouldn’t impede operational readiness when near-optimal solutions can be deployed significantly faster.

This acquisition philosophy represents a fundamental cultural shift: recognizing that timely delivery of capable systems often outweighs the pursuit of comprehensive requirement fulfillment, particularly in dynamic security environments demanding rapid warfighter adaptation.

Source ID: SRCE-2025-1764702286460-1073