Reframing the Defense Outsourcing Debate:
Merging Government Oversight with Industry Partnership

PETER EZRA WEINBERGER
PATRICK CULLEN

This report shifts the discussion of the government’s role in defense contract oversight away from an exclusive focus on guarding against contractor malpractice—an important issue that has nevertheless been exaggerated in the media—towards an understanding of contract oversight as a process of government-industry partnership. Here, contract oversight is understood in terms of specific technical problems that can be resolved or ameliorated by proactive cooperation between government and industry partners. In addition to, and in accordance with this pragmatic vision of government oversight, the report seeks to achieve the following:

• Discuss the possibility for a convergence of opinion between advocates and skeptics regarding the cost savings associated with defense privatization. The report finds room for agreement on both sides of the debate that cost savings can be, and are being, achieved.
• Specify concrete examples of value-added from government-industry partnership at the various pre and post award stages of a contract. The report explains why it is not necessary to rely on altruism, but rather mutual self-interest, to facilitate a partnership that leads to cost savings.  
• Deliver a basic tutorial on fixed price and cost-reimbursement contracts to explain the complexities faced by the government when choosing an appropriate contract vehicle.
• Provide an introduction to economic theories used to either question or endorse defense outsourcing.
• Offer an explanation of metrics and how the government is able to measure contractor performance on the battlefield.
• Highlight the necessity of appropriate government contract oversight and discuss current deficiencies of government contracting personnel.
• Present several key attributes that the private sector brings to the defense outsourcing table: productivity, continuity, flexibility, and surge capacity.

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