Executive Mosaic is pleased to announce U.S. Army Secretary Mark Esper as the newest inductee into the 2018 edition of the Wash100 — Executive Mosaic’s annual selection of the most influential voices in the government contracting arena — for his expertise in the field of acquisition reform and defense policy.
Esper, former vice president of government relations at Raytheon, officially assumed office in November after the Senate voted to confirm his nomination for the post.
In December 2017, he appeared before a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on acquisition reform and said that the Army intends to streamline the delivery of capabilities to troops by reducing the requirements development process for acquisition programs from five years to approximately one year.
“The process now to acquire something is maybe 10 to 15 years … It used to be five to seven … So our aim would be to get it back to where it used to be as a starting point,” Esper noted then.
He mentioned the service branch’s plan to enforce eight directives in an effort to update its contracting, requirement development, capability and material development, and sustainment and evaluation processes.
During the Senate hearing, Esper also discussed plans to establish a new organization — Army Futures Command — composed of eight cross-functional teams (CFTs) in a move to shorten the technology requirements development timeline from five years to 12 months.
He said the CFTs will focus on the modernization of the service’s next-generation combat vehicles, long-range precision weapons, missile defense capacities, vertical lift platforms, mobile network and soldier lethality systems.
“Mindful of past failures, the Army will ensure that technological solutions are mature before we begin a program of record,” Esper told lawmakers.
“This includes a threat-based strategy that has aligned 80 percent of the Army’s science and technology funding requests against the six modernization priorities.”
Esper is a former U.S. Army officer who previously worked at the Defense Department as deputy assistant secretary for negotiations policy.
He joined Raytheon in 2010 after he served as an executive VP for the global intellectual property center at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and chief operating officer and EVP of defense and international affairs at the Aerospace Industries Association.
Esper also worked as a staff member on the Senate Foreign Relations and House Armed Services Committees.
Executive Mosaic congratulates Mark Esper and the U.S Army for their selection to receive this award.
Click here to view the full list of leaders recognized in the Wash100.
Sign in to cast your vote for those executives with the greatest impact on government contracting.
About The Wash100
This year represents our fifth annual Wash100 award selection. The Wash100 is the premier group of private and public sector leaders selected by Executive Mosaic’s organizational and editorial leadership as the most influential leaders in the GovCon sector. These leaders demonstrate skills in leadership, innovation, reliability, achievement, and vision.
