Improved Management of Military Development Programs Needed to Conserve Our Engineering Manpower

The future security of this nation requires continued technological superiority in weapons and weapons systems. To maintain this technical lead in the face of our already inadequate supply of scientists and engineers is a matter of grave concern. The outlook for increasing the supply of technical graduates to meet these demands over the next decade is not good. It is essential, therefore, that we utilize our valuable engineering resources with maximum efficiency. Certain aspects of military program management are resulting in waste of engineering resources. Among these are the requirement for multiple technical proposals prior to selection of a developmental contractor, requirements for unnecessary engineering records, failure to make continued use of trained engineering teams in specialized design areas, and duplication of engineering effort by a prime weapon-system contractor and his subcontractors. It also appears that existing military procurement policies and procedures are tending to create a philosophy of ``mass engineering'' which is not only wasteful of technical resources, but is having an adverse effect upon the morale of engineers and the engineering profession.