The Army is leading the charge toward smart insourcing.
In a bold action, Army Sec. John McHugh suspended all ongoing and future insourcing operations at the Army unless each proposal for insourcing is based on a comprehensive, analytical, approach and the sourcing decision is presented to him for approval.
In a Feb. 1 memo, McHugh wrote:
In an era of significantly constrained resources, the Army must approach the insourcing of functions currently performed by contract in a well-reasoned, analytically based and systemic manner, consistent with law and prevailing Presidential and Department of Defense guidance. Accordingly, effective the date of this directive, I reserve to myself the authority to approve any insourcing proposal, wherever generated across the Army. Any insourcing proposal presented for my consideration must be fully documented and justified. Any proposal will include, at minimum, a manpower requirements determination, an analysis of all potential alternatives to the establishment of permanent civilian authorizations to perform the contracted work, certification of fund availability and a comprehensive legal review.
PSC has called for such analytically rigorous reviews for some time and we’re pleased to see the Army drilling much needed discipline into what has been a disorderly process. The rest of the federal government should promptly follow the Army’s lead.
