Assessing the value of the Joint Rapid Acquisition Cell

Abstract

The Joint Rapid Acquisition Cell (JRAC) was established to assist, determine, monitor, and track the fulfillment of Immediate Warfighter Needs (IWN's). This thesis has a primary goal to investigate whether the JRAC and its processes are value added to the DoD acquisition process, and a secondary goal to document the JRAC process and analyze its usage to date. Analysis such as this thesis may be used to determine if the Joint Rapid Acquisition Cell is the correct model for rapid acquisition and if it should be institutionalized for the Global War on Terror and beyond. The thesis assesses the JRACs value against a base line of existing service rapid acquisition processes. Value centers derived from Knowledge Value Added (KVA) methodologies form the basis of the assessment. The thesis concludes with recommendations for JRAC institutionalization.