Treffer: Examining a Paradigm Shift in Organic Depot-Level Software Maintenance for Army Communications and Electronics Equipment

In the current fiscal environment, Department of Defense (DoD) budgets and resources are being constrained and strategic decisions are being considered to gain efficiencies across the enterprise. In the realm of the Army's Life Cycle Management Command for Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (C4ISR) materiel, the U.S. Army Communications and Electronics Command (CECOM) is one of those enterprises looking for efficiencies. Resource constraints and diverging hardware and software sustainment trends at Tobyhanna Army Depot (TYAD) and the Software Engineering Center (SEC), respectively, are proving to be a quandary for CECOM in terms of how to cost-effectively conduct software maintenance of Army communications and electronics equipment. The intent of this paper is to investigate whether there is an opportunity for CECOM to use the organic, hardware-maintenance-focused TYAD workforce to supplement the SEC contractor software-maintenance workforce, in lieu of SEC adding more contractor support. This paper presents the findings of an assessment of the feasibility, benefits, and challenges of such a functional realignment of maintenance responsibilities. The results indicate that this paradigm shift in software maintenance responsibilities is feasible and does have some promising aspects, but not without some clear challenges that require additional investigation.