Why Army program managers struggle as life cycle managers: a study of the PMs roles, responsibilities, and barriers in the execution of Operations and Support

Abstract

Department of the Army program managers (PMs) have encountered difficulty in effectively managing the life cycle sustainment plan (LCSP) after transition into the Operations and Support (O&S) phase. Due to concerns with the M 777 Howitzer program, Program Executive Office Ammunition (PEO-Ammo) requested a review of the perceived lack of PM control during the O&S phase. This lack of control is focused on the LCSP funding, which PEO-Ammo believes has jeopardized the success of several of their programs beyond the production and deployment (P&D) portions of the system life cycle. For this reason, the PM's transition and execution of the O&S phase of a system after final production is the primary focus of this paper. An evaluation of the PM's environment was conducted by analyzing PM and key stakeholder roles, responsibilities, resources, processes, and expectations. A gap analysis was performed and identified the loss of control perceived by the PM to be centered on the lack of LCSP funding control and visibility by the acquisition chain of command. The authors recommend a revision to Army Regulation 700-127 and DA PAM 700-127 in order to clarify the accountability of the PM and the Life Cycle Management Commands.