ABSTRACT
Defense leaders must maintain and modernize the United States Armed Forces to retain technological superiority while balancing defense budget constraints and wide-ranging military operational commitments, in addition to navigating an intricate information technology (IT) acquisition process. The Department of Defense (DoD) spends more than $63 billion annually – 14 percent of its total budget – on defense maintenance programs spanning major depots, shipyards, and intermediate and organizational units throughout the world (Offi ce of the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense (Logistics and Material Readiness), 2005). A broad range of defense maintenance capabilities and programs supporting approximately 280 ships, 14,000 aircraft, 900 strategic missiles and 330,000 ground combat and tactical vehicles are provided by nearly 680,000 personnel and several thousand commercial fi rms (Offi ce of the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense (Logistics and Material Readiness), 2005).
