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AIRC Chief Scientist Philip S. Antón, Deputy Chief Scientist Douglas J. Buettner, and Dr. Jerry McGinn of the George Mason University Baroni Center for Government Contracting led a multi-university team of AIRC Fellows, members of the AIRC Innovation Panel, faculty researchers, and student assistants to produce a series of nine reports for the Commission on Planning, Programming, Budgeting, and Execution (PPBE) Reform.

Established in Fiscal Year 2022, the Commission on PPBE Reform concluded that a new approach to the defense resourcing process is required to better maintain national security. The Department of Defense (DoD) needs a new process that enables strategy to drive resource allocation in a more rigorous, joint, and analytically informed way. The new process should also embrace changes that enable the DoD to respond effectively to emerging threats while leveraging technological advances. The Commission identified critical areas and recommendations for reform. AIRC was among the academia partners asked by the Commission to assist in research efforts that aim to improve the Commission’s impact on defense acquisition.

The team examined a broad array of PPBE activities, and the reports present their recommendations to address challenges and leverage opportunities for PPBE improvement. The following listing includes a brief description of and direct link to each of the nine reports.

DoD PPBE Reform Literature Review: Analysis of Public Recommendations (PI: Antón): This report provides a summary of recommendations and findings from the team’s analysis of open literature containing explicit recommendations on improving the PPBE process.

Case Studies of Technology Transition (PI: McGinn): This report presents the findings from six unique case studies, each of which offers insights into technology transition in the PPBE process.

Planning, Programming, Budgeting, and Execution (PPBE) Process Research (PI: McGinn): This report provides the research and analysis conducted on selected PPBE process issues that could be adjusted to improve flexibility.

DoD Budget Justification Book Keyword Search Association: A Proof-of-Concept Demonstration (PI: Antón): The first of two reports that provide results from two exploratory research approaches. This report provides a proof-of-concept and framework to associate programs spread across DoD “J-Books” (budget documents that justify budgetary requests and resource allocation) into portfolios, an LLM-based tool for understanding the contents of program elements, and recommended future research for more efficient resource allocation.

ChatGPT Budget Justification Book Program Element Summarization: A Proof-of-Concept Demonstration (PI: Antón): The second of two reports that provide results from two exploratory research approaches. This report provides the results of integrating the ChatGPT LLM into the prototype implementation to analyze limited-in-size data samples and recommends future research for more efficient resource allocation.

Improving Defense Outcomes Through Improved Interfaces Between PPBE, Acquisition, and Requirements (Integration Research Panel Chair: Edward Cardon, AIRC): This report presents results, recommendations, and suggested future research provided by the Panel that address the challenges and opportunities in integrating the requirements, acquisition, and PPBE systems within the DoD.

A Budget-Theoretical Perspective on DoD PPBE Reform (PI: Antón): This report shows that a budgetary theoretical perspective offers insights into potential recommendations that could improve the ability of the PPBE process to enable innovation and adaptability.

DoD Obligation and Expenditure Rates (PI: Antón): This report presents the results of a review of relevant theory and data to improve DoD execution benchmarks for the obligation and expenditure of funds, makes recommendations, and provides suggested future research.

Summary of DoD PPBE Reform Research Findings and Recommendations (PI: Antón): This report provides a consolidated executive summary of the research performed for the Commission, highlighting findings, recommendations, and suggested future research.

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