Alamo: The US Air Force could finalise plans for major reorganisation of weapon systems that roll up Programme Executive Offices (PEOs) into new Portfolio Acquisition Executives (PAEs) within days, a service official said, as part of the Pentagon’s broader push to realign decision-making authority higher in the chain.
“They’re still moving forward with the PAE concept of rolling the PEOs under the PAE structure, but they have not finalised that yet,” Air Force Lifecycle Management Centre (AFLCMC) Executive Director Dennis D’Angelo said at the Alamo ACE conference. “That probably will not be finalised for the next couple of weeks. They’re looking at how they outline not only the responsibility of the PAE, but what authorities they will be responsible for because [there is] an attempt to bring more authorities up to their level so they can make decisions with programme management.”
D’Angelo noted that AFLCMC Commander Lt Gen Donna Shipton skipped the conference because she was “in the middle of that structure,” underscoring how central the reorganisation has become. He also referenced recent remarks by senior Air Force acquisition leaders at the I/ITSEC conference — also taking place this week — who stressed that PAEs are expected to carry significantly more weight.
“One of the things [leadership] wanted to do is give the PAE more responsibility and authority for them to be able to accomplish their mission so they would have more authority in how they would be able to move money, move people and all that,” said D’Angelo. “The issue is how much authority will they be given, and that’s still up for debate.”
The outcome, he suggested, will shape how quickly the Air Force can shift resources inside major portfolios as threats, technology and budgets change.
