Defense Contracting in Practice
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1. Introduction and overview (27 August)
- Syllabus Overview - BGOV200 Report Webinar (~50 minutes) No Class: Labor Day, 4 September Part 1: Understanding the Industry 2. History of Defense Contracting (10 September) Required Reading: - The Foundations of Government Contracting (Sandy Keeney, NOAA) - Business of War (Gordon Bannerman, London School of Economics) - Outsourcing War: Understanding the Private Military Industry (Peter Singer, Brookings) - U.S. Military Logistics Outsourcing and the Everywhere War (Adam Moore, draft paper) 3. Contingency Contracting/GWOT (17 September) SME: Doug Brooks, President Emeritus of ISOA. PPT here. Further resources here. Facilitator: LW - CRS Defense Primer - DoD Contractors - (The Intercept) Drone base in Niger - (Washington Post) George “Alexi” Whitney volunteered for a mission in Afghanistan, where he became one of a tiny group of CIA contractors killed in the longest war in U.S. history. - Blackwater and Erik Prince do mostly GOOD (John Stossel) (~7 mins) - Jeremy Scahill interview (~55 mins) - The Somali Project (~120 mins) "The Project tells the story of a private militia formed to fight Somali pirates who prey on some of the world’s busiest shipping lanes." Part 2: Procurement Strategy, Proposal Process, and Contract Performance - Syllabus Update 4. What does it take to be a government contracting entity? (24 September) SME: Diane Chido, DC Analytics. PPT here. - Guide to DoD Contracting Opportunities: A Step by Step Approach to the DoD Marketplace - Office of Small Business Programs - Subcontracting Opportunities and How to Find Them - Step-by-Step Approach to the DoD Marketplace 5. The color of money/Acquisition Processes (1 October) SME: Colonel Wyeth Anderson - The Defense Acquisition System in 7 Minutes (DAU) - Overseas Contingency Operations Funding: Background and Status (CRS) - Defense Contingency Contracting Handbook - Chapters 2 and 3 **Tentative research paper topics due 5pm, 5 October No Class: Fall Break, 8 October 6. Bid, proposal, award, and protest cycles (15 October) Facilitator: RA - Defense Contingency Contracting Handbook (DoD Defense Pricing and Contracting) - Chapters 5 and 7 - RAND Assessing Bid Protests of U.S. Department of Defense Procurements - “Companies barely had to compete for half of the federal contracts awarded in Puerto Rico so far” - GAO 7. CONUS vs. OCONUS performance (22 October) Facilitator: CM - FCPA website and enforcement. - The Ransom Problem (~20 mins) - Anatomy of a Kidnapping - Peruse UN Use of Private Military and Security Companies: Practices and Policies **Research paper outlines due 5pm, 26 October 8. Resources (29 October) ** In class assessment re: terminology 9. Pricing and performance/Compliance and reporting (5 November) Facilitator: ZG - Defense Contingency Contracting Handbook (DoD Defense Pricing and Contracting) - Chapters 4 and 6 10. ISOA Industry Reception (12 November) 5:30-8PM, 600 Massachusetts Ave NW, courtesy of ISOA - Strengthening Alliances and Partnerships through Defense Cooperation CSIS (~1 hour) - Jobs, Security, and Human Rights: Striking a Balance in U.S. Arms Export Policy Security Assistance Monitor & Forum on the Arms Trade (~90 mins) Part 3: Current Industry Climate 11. Midterm Presentations (19 November) 12. Waste, fraud, and abuse (26 November) Facilitator: TM - Defense Contingency Contracting Handbook (DoD Defense Pricing and Contracting) - Chapter 1 - SIGAR 13. Acquisition Reform/Procurement vehicles presentations (3 December) - Section 809 Panel Viewpoint: Time to Declutter, Reorganize Acquisition Code - National Technology and Industrial Base Integration: How to Overcome Barriers and Capitalize on Cooperation (CSIS) Chapters 1, 2, 7, and 8 14. Reflections (10 December) - Eeben Barlow, Executive Outcomes interview - OUT OF THE SHADOWS: Promoting Openness and Accountability in the Global Defence Industry Final Assignments due 5pm, Friday 14 December RESOURCES DOD Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms Acronyms DPAP Contingency Contracting SUBSCRIPTIONS Defense Industry Daily - subscribe to DID Email Newsletter Forum for Private Security Research - follow curated newsfeed POLITICO Morning Defense - subscribe to Morning Defense Newsletter Security Assistance Monitor - subscribe to Weekly Monitor |
Instructor: Whitney Grespin
Course Number & Title: IAFF 6186.18 Semester: Fall 2018 Class time: 5:10-7PM Credits: 3.0 Course prerequisites: n/a Class room: Monroe Hall, 352 Supplemental Materials Sean McFate, The Modern Mercenary: Private Armies And What They Mean for World Order. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2014) Erik Prince, Civilian Warriors: The Inside Story of Blackwater and the Unsung Heroes of the War on Terror. (Penguin Group 2013) Jeremy Scahill, Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army. (Nation Books 2007) "The Strange Ascent of Betsy DeVos and Erik Prince." Vanity Fair, October 2018. 2019 Index of U.S. Military Strength Commission on Wartime Contracting Final Report 2011 |
