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Process over purpose

Three companies are vying for the $15 billion, 140-aircraft program: Boeing, which is offering the HH-47; Lockheed Martin, which is promoting the US101; and Sikorsky, which is offering the S-92.

The Air Force selected the HH-47 last November, leading to several rounds of protests, but even if it’s re-selected, this off-the-shelf helicopter based on a late 1950s design won’t be fully fielded before 2019.

In the meantime, the Army has selected several new models, including the CH-47F, UH-60M, UH-72A and ARH-70A. The Marines selected the CH-53K as their new heavy-lift helicopter. These programs are not without problems, but at least they’re moving forward. Why can’t the Air Force do the same?

The problem is broad swaths of the Air Force are becoming more like government bureaucracies and less like military entities.

Bluntly put, we have a bad case of “government disease.” It happens when an organization becomes so process-oriented it loses sight of its original mission.

Several things happen when process trumps purpose.

First, the volume of regulations and instructions increases, becoming so convoluted and overwhelming that full compliance is almost impossible.

Legions of accountants, consultants and lawyers must then be hired to sort though the mire of complex and sometimes contradictory instructions. Meanwhile, the contractors hire more expensive accountants, consultants and lawyers to take advantage of every regulatory loophole.

Next, the bureaucracy seeks more resources — people, money and time — to compensate for its growing inefficiencies.

The contractors soon ingrain themselves, creating processes and regulations that make them ‘indispensable.’ As government disease spreads deeper, organizations become more risk averse. People don’t want to invite trouble by inadvertently violating some obscure regulation.

Eventually, external forces pressure the organization to perform. In the name of efficiency, new processes are implemented to fix the old processes, but in the end, nothing really changes. Eventually, leaders become frustrated, and workers become resigned.

I believe the process-over-purpose culture is largely to blame for many of the problems facing our Air Force.

Our frontline airmen are as mission-oriented as at any time in our history. They are also increasingly frustrated by what they perceive as a peacetime mentality when they look over their shoulder.

They don’t want to hear about process. They want their sense of urgency to extend beyond the flight line.

As you read this, an HH-60G crew is flying a combat mission somewhere in the world, squeezing as much performance as possible from an aircraft not designed for the mission. Above them, the men and women flying ancient KC-135s and B-52s are watching to see what happens next to the CSAR-X, knowing their fate may be similar.

They’ve all been waiting patiently.

We owe them capable aircraft in a timely manner. We owe them a cure for government disease.