Q&A: James W. Cluck

Written by Jeff McKaughan

ACQUIRING MIND:
Ensuring the SOF Warrior is the Best Equipped in the World



James W. Cluck
Acquisition Executive and Senior Procurement Executive
U.S. Special Operations Command

Cluck has more than 36 years of combined military and civilian federal service, including more than 24 years of experience in Department of Defense acquisition. His specific acquisition experience includes both corporate and government program manager assignments for intelligence and telecommunications programs.

Cluck started his government service in 1968 upon enlisting in the Marine Corps as an aviation photographic-electronics technician. He was selected in 1974 to attend the Marine Enlisted Commissioning Program at The Citadel, where he was commissioned as an air defense officer. Cluck served in this capacity until 1982, when he was accepted to the Naval Postgraduate School. After graduation, Cluck was assigned to Headquarters U.S. Marine Corps, where he worked as a signals intelligence systems engineer until his reassignment to the Marine Corps Research, Development and Acquisition Center in 1987. His tenure there was spent as a program manager for signals intelligence systems until 1989, when he transitioned to the private sector to become a senior program manager for a telecommunications firm with oversight of U.S. Army and DoD intelligence support contracts.

Since accepting a position at U.S. Special Operations Command in 1992, Cluck has served as the chief information officer and director, Special Operations Networks and Communications Center; director of management, Special Operations Acquisition and Logistics Center; deputy program executive officer, Intelligence and Information Systems; program manager, Intelligence Systems; and program manager, C4I Automation Systems. Throughout these assignments, he consolidated diverse intelligence, command and control, and information programs through common migration and technical management techniques to minimize MFP-11 resourcing and enhance interoperability. Cluck received the USCINCSOC Quality Award in 1997 and the David Packard Award in 1996 for acquisition excellence.

Cluck graduated from The Citadel in 1976. He also earned a master’s degree in telecommunications systems management in 1984 from the Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, Calif. Cluck completed the Defense Systems Management College–Program Management Course in 1987 and is designated as a Level III-qualified acquisition professional within the DoD Acquisition Corps.

Cluck was interviewed by SOTECH Editor Jeff McKaughan.

Q: As the acquisition arm for Special Operations Command, what is the primary mission of the Special Operations Acquisition and Logistics Center [SOAL], and what are its inherent responsibilities and functions?

A: SOAL’s core mission is to provide rapid and focused acquisition, technology and logistics support to special operations forces [SOF] warfighters. Last year we executed more than $4.2 billion in funding for programs and projects ranging from leading-edge research and development to sustainment of fielded items. We currently have 191 military and government civilian acquisition professionals supported by a cadre of contracted subject matter experts managing 362 internal and external acquisition and logistics efforts.

The U.S. Special Operations Command commander, Admiral Eric Olson, has unique acquisition authorities and responsibilities. Title 10 United States Code, Section 167, vests the USSOCOM commander with the responsibility and authority for the development and acquisition of special operations-peculiar equipment, the authority to exercise the functions of the head of agency, and the authority to execute funds. The commander has delegated those authorities to me, the USSOCOM acquisition executive [SOAE], and I lead the Special Operations Acquisition and Logistics Center in executing those authorities.

Congress has also provided us with specific appropriation funding, Major Force Program-11 [MFP-11], to support our development, acquisition and sustainment activities for SO-peculiar equipment. The unique situation of acquisition authorities and appropriated investment funds provided to a combatant command is both a tremendous responsibility and a powerful combination.

Q: Would you please expand on what this combination of authorities and resources does for USSOCOM acquisition?

A: Our MFP-11 funding gives us the ability to optimize equipment to satisfy our unique mission requirements, and our unique authorities allow us to carry out our acquisition functions to fulfill these requirements in a streamlined fashion. A key to taking full advantage of this is the colocation of the USSOCOM commander, the SOAE, and the program executive offices [PEOs], along with the staffs that administer the command’s requirements, strategic planning, finance, programming and acquisition functions. This close association facilitates and enhances the effectiveness of acquisition coordination and allows decisions to be made in a short time frame.

Q: Having just taken over as the acquisition executive, what are your priorities?

A: My vision for USSOCOM acquisition is to create a streamlined organization, focus our acquisition work force, and increase industry engagement so they know that we’re open for business. I have started to minimize the bureaucracy by delegating acquisition decision authority to the lowest level, establishing metrics for accountability and deploying modern information systems and collaboration tools to maximize the transparency of our plans and actions.

I strongly agree with Defense Secretary Robert Gates that developing and maintaining a professional, competent acquisition work force is essential to success. Accordingly, we plan to train and empower our work force as well as provide them career progression opportunities to continue their development. Simultaneously, I am aligning our resources to ensure that our PEOs and program management offices have the right number and mix of personnel to rapidly exploit unplanned opportunities.

To respond to such unplanned acquisition priorities, we are implementing a joint acquisition task force approach to address actions that are beyond a PEO’s or program manager’s [PM] approved program baseline. A joint acquisition task force is a team comprising functional experts from USSOCOM and our supporting organizations who engage in a collaborative approach to resolve critical and unexpected acquisition concerns.

Finally, we are making ourselves even more visible and available to industry through our technical industrial liaison officer by engaging in frequent dialogue. This helps our industry partners better understand our current technology gaps and requirements and helps us understand what they can “bring to the fight” to address those gaps. To reinforce the importance I place on industry engagement, I have specifically reserved schedule time each week for visits with senior industry representatives to discuss USSOCOM’s acquisition requirements.

Q: Please describe SOAL’s organization structure and how that structure positions you to manage the full range of life cycle activities from research and development through sustainment.

A: Our organizational structure is driven by our acquisition and sustainment environment. Where we leverage off of the services and other external organizations for materiel solutions, our organizational structure is optimized to interface with these organizations and systems. Internally we have delegated much of the execution authority to the PEOs and PMs while implementing streamlined processes, providing highly competent staff— including embedded contracting and legal staff—and organizing for the shortest possible chain of command to ensure that the complexity of our environment doesn’t slow down our service to the warfighters.

Specifically, SOAL is a mix of PEOs and direct reporting PMs supported by functional directorates. The PEOs oversee portfolios of systems throughout the acquisition and sustainment life cycle in areas including fixed wing and rotary wing platforms; naval systems; individual warrior equipment; special mission systems; special reconnaissance, surveillance and exploitation systems; and preparation and training systems. Our direct reporting PMs are colocated with the operational directorates they support in the C4, intelligence and PSYOPs mission areas, thereby increasing productivity and improving coordination between PMs and these operational directorates. Our directorates of logistics, procurement, management, and science and technology support all of our PEOs and PMs with dedicated and matrixed subject matter expertise.

Additionally, we have a substantial operational logistics responsibility to coordinate and synchronize SOF support to ongoing worldwide SOF operations. Our J4 logistics staff officers are embedded within each PEO as well as within the command’s Center for Special Operations organization and provide sustainment planning for SOF operators in the field, along with the associated special operations-peculiar materiel support and training they need.

Q: How is USSOCOM acquisition different from that of the larger military departments?

A: Given the common basis in public law, USSOCOM acquisition has many similarities to acquisition in the services. There are, however, several notable exceptions. First, we support and are part of USSOCOM—a unique command with combined COCOM, MILDEP and service-like roles. Having a four-star commander leading both highly trained and experienced war fighting forces and a streamlined, agile acquisition organization provides some unique opportunities to focus everyone’s activities.

We use our MFP-11 funds to develop, implement, field and sustain platforms and equipment to meet our special operations-peculiar requirements. We also rely on service-common equipment and leverage the services’ materiel solutions whenever feasible. In addition, we have the ability to compete the testing that we require among many testing organizations and agencies.

We also support a much different force than the services. In almost every case, the average age of SOF operators exceeds that of their general purpose counterparts. As a result, the SOF operators who receive our equipment are highly trained and experienced professionals with several specialized operational tours under their belts. Involving this type of mature operator in the beginning of the acquisition process allows SOAL to develop sufficient materiel solutions very quickly. Because our customers possess an exceptional skill set, they can utilize a wider range of possible materiel solutions, broadening our options for faster delivery.

Q: How do you use the services’ platforms?

A: Since our investment funding only reflects approximately 1.1 percent of the DoD budget, we rely on the services to provide many service-common platforms that we then modify for our requirements. Our SOF MH-47G Chinooks, MH-60M Black Hawks and MC-130Js are good examples of rotary wing and fixed wing assets that evolved from the services’ platforms. For all of these types of activities, starting with a service platform enables us to provide a fully capable SOF asset for only the cost of modification.

Q: USSOCOM prides itself on being highly nimble and responsive, traits not normally associated with acquisition. How does SOAL respond to rapid operational requirements?

A: When a material solution is required for a combat mission need, our focus is fielding a capability within six months with a minimum of one year of support. An important factor in rapidly fielding a capability is early involvement of the SOF warfighter in defining the requirement and in completing the test and evaluation assessment. Using urgent deployment acquisition [UDA] authorities, we minimize the amount of documentation for rapid acquisitions while ensuring that equipment limits and risks are identified and that adequate training and maintenance procedures are in place. This rapid acquisition approach was possible only through the tremendous support from Congress and OSD. In the conduct of OEF and OIF, we have fielded a total of 97 discrete systems in response to combat mission needs from the field.

As mentioned earlier, we are also implementing a joint acquisition task force approach to build on the success of the UDA process. By identifying a pool of functional experts across USSOCOM, we’ll be able to rapidly form an acquisition task force to capture and fully exploit complex, unplanned acquisition opportunities.

Our Science and Technology Directorate is also increasing SOAL’s agility by emphasizing rapid insertion of innovative and adaptive technologies through joint experimentation, combat development, evaluations and evolutionary technology insertions into our programs of record.

Q: Contract strategies and vehicles are critical aspects of acquisition activities. What innovative contracting tools and methods does SOAL employ to expedite materiel solutions to the warfighter?

A: Weapons and information systems are acquired through open, competitive procurement strategies that are supplemented by industry involvement through our Office of Small Business Programs, Small Business Innovative Research activities, Foreign Competitive Testing, and science and technology initiatives. External acquisitions benefit from the close relationships we have with the acquisition professionals in the services’ program offices and the contracting strategies they implement for each program’s specific situation.

The command has several major service contracts that give us maximum support and flexibility. Our Acquisition, Logistics, Management and Business Operations Support contract supports the entire command and is the primary vehicle that provides much of the specialized acquisition and acquisition support subject matter expertise for SOAL.

A similar service contract for information technology services is the Enterprise Information Technology Contract, which provides operational information technology services across the SOF Information Enterprise.

A third service contract is in place for the Special Operations Forces Support Activity [SOFSA]. The SOFSA contract provides the SOF components and respective PEOs with a wide range of contractor logistic support capability to support and sustain fielded equipment. SOFSA provides robust aviation and ground mobility systems with a repair, modification and integration center.

Additionally, SOFSA provides the associated manufacturing, warehousing, supply, maintenance and sustainment support services, including deployed logistics support teams. While award of undefinitized contract actions [UCAs] are still an option for warfighter emergency needs, the flexibility and responsiveness of our service contracts minimize UCAs while still supporting USSOCOM’s needs.

Q: What business practices and methods do you utilize to improve the management of acquisition programs?

A: We are constantly evolving or, when necessary, revolutionizing our business practices and methods to improve our acquisition performance. As mentioned previously, we deliberately push acquisition authorities, such as milestone decision authority, down the chain to the PEOs and PMs and provide them direct access to my support so that they can be responsive to our warfighters. With that authority comes responsibility, so we are refining our metrics to provide more quantitative accountability as well as expanding our modern information systems and collaborative tools to give all stakeholders visibility into those metrics. To ensure that we’re listening as well as broadcasting, we conduct quarterly execution reviews with the components to discuss the status of the programs we execute for them and receive clear, unambiguous, unfiltered feedback.

Many of our efforts are small enough that they do not have to be conducted as formal acquisition programs. For those types of activities, we execute streamlined projects that provide the appropriate levels of oversight and control while minimizing the administrative overhead associated with acquisition programs. Projects are one way that our Science and Technology Directorate can quickly involve the operational user in technology assessments and tests. Warfighter involvement provides valuable insight into a technology’s operational utility and greatly increases the chance of success for any follow-on acquisition efforts.

Q: The need for certified acquisition professionals continues to grow across DoD. Is USSOCOM experiencing this same increase in demand for certified acquisition professionals? If so, what are you doing to meet this growing need?

A: The demand for certified acquisition professionals is growing at USSOCOM as well as across DoD. As recently emphasized by Secretary Gates, a professional acquisition work force is critical to rapidly providing quality materiel solutions to our warfighters. We are empowering and training our work force as well as providing them with career development opportunities through a variety of initiatives. The Air Force—as our executive agent—Acquisition Professional Development Program provides technical training, leadership training, developmental education and professional military education to increase the proficiency of acquisition work force members in their current positions and to afford them opportunities for career-broadening development and progression commensurate with their abilities.

In SOAL, our Office of Manpower and Personnel Services provides support to our work force by keeping them informed about education, training and experience requirements and by ensuring that they have completed the necessary steps to maintaining their personal records. This service helps our people keep their career development plans on schedule. In coordination with Air Force Personnel Center, we’ve also recently added four career-broadening positions specifically designed to broaden the skills and enhance the leadership perspective of highpotential and exceptional personnel to our organization.

We have enlisted the help of Headquarters USSOCOM and SAF/AQ for a thorough and very successful audit of our acquisition personnel to validate required DAWIA acquisition certifications. Additionally, we have received Section 852 funding for intern positions to help plan for future requirements.

Q: What can the industry partners supporting USSOCOM do to help themselves in preparing for USSOCOM’s acquisition demands for the future?

A: USSOCOM is always interested in new and emerging technologies and capabilities. Information about current programs and technology areas of interest can be found at the SOAL Website: www.socom.mil/soal.

The USSOCOM technical industrial liaison officer [TILO] exists to help industry understand USSOCOM’s needs and how to do business with USSOCOM. The TILO can support staffing and coordination of a company’s technical information with the appropriate command personnel to determine whether there is a need or interest and in the transition of that capability to the warfighter.

Small business industry partners can also consult the Office of Small Business Programs, the advocate for small business utilization within USSOCOM. Other resources available to potential and current industry partners include events such as Special Operations Forces Industry Conference and venues that highlight USSOCOM’s mission needs and objectives.

In addition, industry partners are encouraged to actively monitor DoD RDT&E activities and agencies—e.g., OSD’s RRTO, DARPA and JCTDs—that support common or sponsored USSOCOM technology objectives and to seek out nontraditional contracting opportunities, e.g., CRADAs and OTs, that foster cooperative partnerships on technology transfer and developmental projects.

Q: Do you have any closing comments?

A: Thank you for the opportunity to discuss acquisition at USSOCOM. The strength of our success has not been a function of authorities but rather has been due to the dedication, innovation and aggressiveness of our acquisition professionals. I am honored to be a part of the team. I look forward to continued partnership with our service counterparts and jointly providing solutions to our operational challenges. ♦

Back to Top