CNA’s president and chief executive officer argue that U.S. acquisition reform will only succeed if it shifts attention to the “last tactical mile”—the point where systems are used by warfighters in operational settings. The outlets frame the piece as a policy argument that current reform efforts should be evaluated by how well they translate into real-world performance.
Defense News, Navy Times, Military Times, and Air Force Times all publish the same underlying commentary. Across the four outlets, the emphasis is consistent: reform should prioritize the final steps that connect procurement decisions to day-to-day military use, rather than focusing solely on earlier acquisition processes.
Because the articles are essentially the same op-ed republished by different services, they do not introduce contrasting reporting or data. Instead, they present a unified perspective from CNA’s leadership on what they consider a crucial criterion for measuring acquisition reform outcomes.
