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One of Holley’s (2004) themes is the need for officers to see the importance of doctrine and realize that “doctrine is everybody’s business and not just the concern of a handful of individuals assigned to the formal task of compiling doctrinal manuals” (p. xi). This means that every officer, regardless of profession, must use their critical thinking skills, personal experiences, and professional education to progress the doctrine body of knowledge. The second theme of utility is the need to make doctrine more readable and memorable (Holley, 2004). Officers should be well-versed in the art of skilled writing, which should be presented as both inspiring and insightful. Holley’s pragmatic approach to doctrine is particularly salient to the Space Force because, as its doctrine states, a warfighting mentality is everyone’s business. His pragmatism goes a step further when he defines doctrine in simple terms. Doctrine is what is officially approved to be taught; it is derived from experience and is a formal recognition of what has worked best from observation of numerous trials (Holley, 2004). In other words, doctrine is a compilation of best practices observed over time. A final observation made by Holley is that doctrine is not related solely to warfighting or military action. He argues that it is not limited to tactical action either. Rather, doctrine is useful for a variety of functions. He states, “There can, and should, be doctrine guiding personnel actions, the acquisition process, logistical operations, purchasing, and other support tasks” (Holley, 2004, p. 1). Upon further examination, apart from acquisition, each area he noted is captured in doctrine in some way. For instance, within Joint publications there is established doctrine for various functions such as Personnel (JP 1-0), Logistics (JP 4-0), and Purchasing (JP 4-10). The next logical step in Holley’s proposal is creating acquisition doctrine. Acquisition Best Practices and Reform Space acquisition can be slow, marred by long delivery timelines and high costs. This is particularly true when considering large satellites that cost billions of dollars to develop and field. In October 2022, Frank Cavelli, the newly appointed SAE, unveiled his 9 Tenets. Later, in December 2023, he released the Essential PM Skills for Government Space Acquisition Professionals , subsequently referred to as PM Essentials (Calvelli, 2023). Crafted to align with his three space acquisition priorities—speed, resilience, and integration—these “tenets and essentials” are pivotal
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Defense ARJ, Summer 2025, Vol. 32 No. 2: 132—193
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