The Department of War (DoW)’s Acquisition Transformation Strategy (ATS) calls for speed, flexibility, iterative delivery, em- powered program managers, and continuous feedback from Warfighters. Readers familiar with software development may recognize these as the defining features of Agile. Yet the word “Agile” appears nowhere in the document.
The transformation strategy is, in practice, a call to apply Agile prin - ciples at enterprise scale, and not saying so explicitly creates real risk. Without a shared vocabulary and framework, well-intentioned re - forms risk inconsistent implementa - tion across a workforce that is already unevenly prepared for this shift. Rec - ognizing Agile as the philosophy un - derlying the ATS is not an academic exercise. It is a practical step toward making the transformation succeed. Consider this example: A program manager working a critical munitions modernization effort experienced the need for acceleration and efficiencies: Her team knew what the Warfighter needed, the solution existed in the commercial market, yet the acqui - sition process required 18 months of documentation before a contract could be awarded. Without an ac - celerated pathway, by the time the capability would have been fielded, the operational window would have shifted. This is not an isolated story. It is a systemic pattern, and it is precisely what the ATS is designed to break. A Balancing Act The U.S. Warfighting Acquisition System has long struggled with a central tension: balancing rigor - ous oversight and risk management against the equally urgent require - ment to deliver operational capabili - ties to War-fighters in a timely man - ner. Acquisition processes evolved to emphasize compliance, documenta - tion, and predictive planning to con - trol cost, schedule, and performance risks—mechanisms that improved ac - countability but also introduced sig - nificant bureaucratic friction. As stra -
tegic competition has intensified, the pace of commercial innovation has accelerated; clearly, approaches op - timized for predictability are too slow to deliver relevant capability in con - tested environments. The result is a system that, by its own design, strug - gles to keep pace with the threats it The Secretary of War’s Nov. 7, 2025, memorandum directing the transformation of the Defense Ac - quisition System into a Warfighting Acquisition System reinforces this shift, emphasizing speed, flexibility, and reduced bureaucratic overhead as essential to delivering capability to the Warfighter. While presented as acquisition reform, these priorities closely mirror principles long associ - ated with Agile thinking. The transition from defense ac - quisition to warfighting acquisition reflects, in many ways, an implicit movement toward Agile principles at enterprise scale. At the same time, the reluctance to explicitly identify Agile as the underlying framework can limit clarity and consistency in implementation. Examining acqui - sition transformation through this lens helps connect policy intent to practical execution. More impor - tantly, it highlights how objectives such as speed, adaptability, and operational relevance can be more effectively realized. exists to counter. Agile Thinking Distilling Agile core principles . The Agile Manifesto emphasizes early and continuous delivery of value as the highest priority in complex devel - opment efforts. While originally ex - pressed through 12 principles, these ideas can be distilled into a smaller
Students attending the Eastern Army Na- tional Guard Aviation Training Site (EAATS) prepare an aircraft for takeoff at Fort Indiantown Gap, Pa., May 12, 2026. EAATS trains over 1,500 service members annu- ally from all 54 states and territories, the active-duty Army and Army Reserve, as well as international military students. Source: U.S. Army National Guard photo by Sgt. Kayden Bedwell This image was cropped to show detail and edited using multiple filters plus dodging and burning techniques.
MAY – JUNE 2026 | DEFENSE ACQUISITION MAGAZINE 15
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