Douglas Bush (left), then the Acting Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics, and Technology, and Timothy Goddette (right), at a ceremony at the Detroit Arsenal in Michigan in May 2021. (Ted Beupre)
Douglas Bush's tenure helping guide and craft defence policy from the legislative side of the government is a driving force behind several key priorities guiding his time as the Assistant Secretary of the US Army for Acquisition, Logistics, and Technology, he recently told Janes .
After a handful of years donning the army uniform, Bush spent nearly two decades as a Congressional staff member, including 14 years working for the House Armed Services Committee. On this committee, he helped lawmakers craft their annual defence oversight bill at a time when the army encountered several high-profile acquisition setbacks including the demise of the Future Combat System (FCS), Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter, and Ground Combat Vehicle programme.
“What I learned on (FCS) and from other programmes, was the army, with the best of intentions, didn't get the outcomes they wanted,” he said during a May interview. “The primary mistake [the army] usually made was that the requirements were not achievable given the time and resources devoted to a programme.”
Other times, the blame was because of contractor performance or a change in army leadership and associated priorities, Bush added.
“Most programmes actually were fine, delivered on time and did well, but [with] the ones that didn't go well, it was usually one of those three reasons,” he added. “Rarely was it … an acquisition technicality, like the choice of type of contract, or a competition that wasn't done correctly.”
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