Implementation Plan for the Recommendations from the Commission on Planning, Programming, Budgeting, and Execution Reform’s Interim Report

Implementation Plan for the Recommendations from

the Commission on Planning, Programming, Budgeting, and Execution

Reform’s Interim Report

December 14, 2023

Department of Defense

TABLE OF CONTENTS

SUMMARY. .............................................................................................................................. 1

STAKEHOLDERS. ...................................................................................................................... 1

OVERALL ASSESSMENT. ........................................................................................................... 1

List 1 - Near-term Recommendations..................................................................................... 2

IMPLEMENTATION PLANS ....................................................................................................... 3

K EY N EAR-TERM R ECOMMENDATIONS ........................................................ 4

Recommendation 1: Implement mid-year update briefing to defense committees. ...... 4

Recommendation 5: Systematically review and consolidate BLIs. ................................. 5

Recommendation 8: Continue, and if possible, accelerate consolidation of the OSD

programming and budgeting systems. ............................................................................... 7

Recommendation 11: Establish classified and unclassified enclaves for DoD-Congress-

DoD information sharing. ................................................................................................... 9

Recommendation 12: Continue the focus on improving recruiting and retention. ...... 12

O THER N EAR-TERM R ECOMMENDATIONS ................................................... 14

Recommendation 2: Restructure justification books. ...................................................... 14

Recommendation 3: Improve training for preparation of budget justification materials. 15

Recommendation 4: Improve training for DoD liaisons. ................................................... 16

Recommendation 6: Review and Update of PPBE-related guidance documents. ............ 18

Recommendation 7: Improve understanding of private sector practices. ....................... 19

Recommendation 9: Expand PPBE analytics via Advana. ................................................ 21

Recommendation 10: Provide annual report to Congress and briefing on DoD’s strategy

for consolidating, rationalizing, integrating, and modernizing DoD PPBE business systems

and all related tools to support the PPBE process. ........................................................... 23

Recommendation 13: Streamline processes and improve analytic capabilities to reduce

workload. ......................................................................................................................... 25

INTERIM REPORT OVERVIEW. ................................................................................................ 27

List 2 - Potential Recommendations ..................................................................................... 27

COMMISSION ON PPBE REFORM. .......................................................................................... 28

Implementation Plan for the Recommendations from the Commission on PPBE Reform’s Interim Report Page 1

UMMARY

The Commission on Planning, Programming, Budgeting,

and Execution (PPBE) Reform (Commission), established in the Fiscal

Year (FY) 2022 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), publicly

released a congressionally mandated interim report

on August 15,

2023. The Interim Report provided a total of 23 recommendations

(referred to as “actions”) for the Department of Defense (DoD) and

Congress.

13 near-term recommendations. Of the 23 recommendations, the Commission deemed the 13

could be implemented in the immediate or near-term by the Department and the Congress. Five

of the 13 were identified as key recommendations.

10 potential recommendations. The remaining 10 were identified as potential recommendations

requiring additional stakeholder feedback and analysis before inclusion in the Final Report, which

is congressionally mandated to be released in March 2024. Seven of the 10 were identified as

potential

key recommendations.

Implementation Plan. This Implementation Plan, led by the Office of the Under Secretary of

Defense (Comptroller)/CFO (OUSD(C)) in conjunction with stakeholders across the Department,

addresses the implementation of the 13 near-term recommendations.

TAKEHOLDERS

. Many of the recommendations have key stakeholders both inside and outside

of the Department and include the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the Congress.

The success of the implementation will be heavily dependent on stakeholder consensus.

Within the Department, each of the 13 recommendations was assigned a primary stakeholder

organization to lead the development and coordination of the implementation plan for their

recommendation including soliciting and incorporating input from the other stakeholders across

the Department.

VERALL

SSESSMENT

. In accordance with Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks’

direction to the Department to adopt all actions that could be implemented now, as

recommended by the Commission and within its purview, each primary stakeholder decided on

next steps to implementing the recommendations.

Each recommendation was determined to be achievable although most may require additional

personnel and resources. Further, some of the recommendations made by the Commission

were the same or very similar to improvements already well underway in the Department.

Commission on PPBE Reform Interim Report. Released 15 August 2023.

https://ppbereform.senate.gov/interimreport/

Implementation Plan for the Recommendations from the Commission on PPBE Reform’s Interim Report Page 2

However, while each recommendation is achievable, it must be established that each individual

recommendation will improve the Department’s processes significantly enough to justify any

additional cost to taxpayers for implementation and sustainment.

PPBE-related DoD and Congress Relationships

1. Midyear update briefing to Congress

2. Improve training for DoD liaisons to Congress

3. Restructure budget justification books

4. Improve training for preparation of budget justification materials

Innovation and Adaptability

5. Systematic review and consolidation of budget line items

6. Systematically review and update PPBE-related Guidance Documents,

including the FMR

Alignment of Budgets to Strategy

7. Improve understanding of private sector practices

PPBE Business Systems and Data Analytics

8. Accelerate OSD Comptroller and CAPE IT system consolidation

9. Expand PPBE analytics via Advana

10. Annual report on the Department’s strategy for consolidation of DoD PPBE

business systems

11. Establish enclaves for DoD-Congress-DoD info sharing

DoD Programming and Budgeting Workforce

12. Improve recruiting and retention of PPBE personnel

13. Streamline processes and improve analytic capabilities to reduce workload

Key Recommendations

List

Near-term

Recommendations

Implementation Plan for the Recommendations from the Commission on PPBE Reform’s Interim Report Page 3

IMPLEMENTATION PLANS

The 13 implementation plans are grouped into two sections.

The five key recommendations are addressed first then followed by the remaining

eight recommendations.

Implementation Plan for the Recommendations from the Commission on PPBE Reform’s Interim Report Page 4

KEY NEAR-TERM RECOMMENDATIONS

Recommendation 1: Implement mid-year update briefing to defense

committees.

The Commission recommends the Department institutionalize a mid-year budget update briefing

with key staff on the congressional defense committees related to both the DoD budget proposal

and budget execution. The update would provide the defense and military construction

committees with information about new events (programmatic, budgeting, technological

developments, and geopolitical in nature) and program status changes that would affect their

review of the budget, perhaps including innovation opportunities.

 Feasibility Assessment: In prior years, the Department provided the option for an Omnibus

briefing each year. However, briefings were conducted depending on the defense

committees’ professional staff members’ availability.

The Commission recommended focusing on the FY 2024 mid-year update on the execution

portion related to the Omnibus, and then in FY 2025, expanding the mid-year update to

include emerging changes to the budget submission is feasible. The Commission further

recommended the update not be designed to constitute a formal budget amendment and

that the update be led by the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Comptroller and

Service Representatives.

Objective:

1. Provide congressional defense committees with the Department’s coordinated position

on current-year execution challenges and the resulting realignment decisions presented

in the Omnibus and other reprogramming requests. Specifically,

- Present a strategy-linked explanation for emerging program changes;

- Present information evenly and efficiently across all defense committees enabling a

clear understanding of the contents of the reprogramming, thereby potentially

eliminating duplicative requests for information; and

- Enable all stakeholders’ views to be presented simultaneously, thereby providing a

stronger and more fulsome justifications for requested changes.

2. Provide coordinated input on potential changes to the Department’s budget during the

annual Midyear Execution Review. Specifically,

- Ensure proposals that alter the President’s Budget submission have OMB and DoD

leadership visibility;

Implementation Plan for the Recommendations from the Commission on PPBE Reform’s Interim Report Page 5

- Focus on congressional actions that are linked to key administration priorities;

- Provide opportunities to promote innovation; and

- Address fact-of-life changes, particularly related to emerging contingencies and

personnel costs.

This plan supports the Department of Defense Financial Management Strategy (FY2022-

2026)

(DoD FM Strategy) Strategic Goal #2 to optimize taxpayer dollars for the highest value

outcomes.

 Key Actions & Activities: Assemble a cross-functional team to develop the criteria, process,

and delivery method.

 Timeline:

- April - June 2024: Assemble a DoD cross-functional team to develop the criteria, process,

and delivery method; in conjunction with the finalization of the Omnibus, and to ready

the mid-year update.

- July 2024: Conduct a mid-year discussion focused on the Omnibus reprogramming and

execution.

- August – September 2024: Solicit feedback from defense committees and DoD

Components to incorporate lessons learned in preparation for the FY 2025 update.

- Spring 2025: Work with the DoD cross-functional team, OMB, and the defense

committees, as necessary, to develop the criteria for the expanded mid-year to include

programmatic, budget, emerging technology, and geopolitical updates. In conjunction

with the finalization of the Omnibus, ready the mid-year update.

- July 2025: Conduct expanded mid-year.

- August 2025: Solicit feedback from defense committees and the Department to

incorporate lessons learned in preparation for the FY 2026 update.

 Other items to note: The Commission acknowledges that the implementation of

recommended PPBE improvements may exacerbate the current the financial management

(FM) community’s workload challenges.

Recommendation 5: Systematically review and consolidate BLIs.

The DoD’s budget structure consists of numerous budget lines and accounts that the Commission

asserts sometimes make it difficult for DoD to manage defense programs and for Congress to

clearly track and understand them. The Commission recommended that Congress and DoD work

Department of Defense Financial Management Strategy (FY2022-2026).

https://comptroller.defense.gov/Portals/45/Documents/DoDFMStrategy/DoD_FM_Strategy.pdf

Implementation Plan for the Recommendations from the Commission on PPBE Reform’s Interim Report Page 6

together to review and restructure budget lines and accounts where appropriate. The

Commission further recommends that this effort be undertaken on a rolling basis over a period of

five to ten years.

 Feasibility Assessment: The Department’s current budget structure is composed of Program,

Project, and Activity, which are reflected as Budget Line Items (BLIs) in the budget structure

of the defense budget materials.

BLIs provide the basic framework for effective funds

control and stratification of the President’s Budget request.

Over the past decade, the number of BLIs has increased due to the propensity to segregate

program content to retain transparency into specific projects for the Department and the

congressional defense committees.

Objective:

1. Reduce the existing number of BLIs in order to increase the Department’s agility in

executing budgets while still retaining relationship linkage into programs and funding

details.

2. Consolidate, where possible, non-Major Defense Acquisition Programs into aggregated

meaningful portfolio groupings.

3. Group technology projects to allow flexibility that would foster innovation and promote

efficiency.

4. Review of at least one appropriation title or portfolio annually.

5. Preserve congressional oversight for key defense program requirements.

6. Retain a fiscal structure that permits effective funds control and, where practical and

feasible, incorporates the Department’s Defense Performance Improvement Framework.

This plan supports the DoD FM Strategy’s Strategic Goals #2, 4, and 5 to optimize taxpayer

dollars for the highest value outcome, simplify and optimize the end-to-end business

environment, and empower data-driven, fiscally informed decision-makings.

 Key Actions & Activities:

1. Assemble a cross-functional team of key DoD stakeholders.

2. Assess the PPBE Reform Commission’s recommendations to consolidate BLIs:

- Address cases in which programs or systems have been subdivided into multiple BLIs

that make them more difficult to manage;

- Identify cases in which multiple programs or systems intended to provide a common

capability could be combined into a single BLI;

- Identify cases in which the consolidation of BLIs could result in improved

performance; and

https://comptroller.defense.gov/Budget-Materials/

Implementation Plan for the Recommendations from the Commission on PPBE Reform’s Interim Report Page 7

- Take into consider the United States Special Operations Command’s best practices for

BLI consolidation, as recommended by the commission.

3. Solicit feedback from internal and external stakeholders.

4. Develop options for consolidating and reducing the number of BLIs while maintaining

sound funds control and preserving transparency for the congressional oversight

committee staff.

5. Coordinate proposed plan across stakeholders.

 Timeline:

- Spring 2024: Kickoff meeting will be held with DoD stakeholders to begin the

Department’s assessment of the Commission’s recommendation for the consolidation of

BLIs.

- Spring - Fall 2024:

 Establish a Cross-Functional Working Group (CFWG) with members from key DoD

stakeholders. Finalize the scope of the review, and target areas for BLI consolidation

in consultation with OMB.

 Solicit feedback from the Department, OMB, and congressional defense committees

on the current budget structure across all appropriations. PB 2026’s review will focus

on science & technology funding across the 6.1, 6.2, and 6.3 budget activities.

1. Develop options for incremental solutions to rationalize the BLI structure in

consultation with responsible acquisition and affected leaders.

2. Brief potential options to all stakeholders and collect feedback.

3. Modify recommended action plan, if needed, and socialize with key stakeholders

prior to any changes to the BLI structure.

Recommendation 8: Continue, and if possible, accelerate

consolidation of the OSD programming and budgeting systems.

The Commission recommends the OUSD(C) work with CAPE to consolidate IT efforts and

streamline existing Planning, Programming, Budgeting, and Execution (PPBE) processes. The end

goal is a single authoritative resource management system that will be used by all DoD

Components for a single-source management tool that will increase efficiencies during program

and budget review, reduce duplication of efforts and inaccuracies of data, support better

capability trade-off analysis, and better inform DoD senior leader decision-making.

Implementation Plan for the Recommendations from the Commission on PPBE Reform’s Interim Report Page 8

 Feasibility Assessment: The Next Generation Resource Management System (NGRMS)

consolidates program and budget data systems that support the Department’s ability to

formulate, justify, present, and defend the Department’s budget during the PPBE process.

Objective:

1. Consolidate IT efforts to increase efficiencies across the Department, ensure consistent

messaging, and reduce duplicative efforts and inaccuracies across data.

2. Expand incrementally providing the flexibility and standardization to support a

streamlined and centralized PPBE process.

This plan supports the DoD FM Strategy’s Strategic Goals #2, 4, and 5 to optimize taxpayer

dollars for the highest value outcome, simplify and optimize the end-to-end business

environment, and empower data-driven, fiscally informed decision-makings.

 Key Actions & Activities: Expand incrementally providing the flexibility and standardization

needed to support a streamlined and centralized PPBE process. As new lessons are learned,

continue to expand efforts to modernize the PPBE process.

 Timeline: NGRMS may integrate new requirements as it progresses through the execution of

existing modernization efforts.

- FY 2024:

 Source Execution Data from Advana – coordinate with Defense Finance and

Accounting Service for execution data (e.g., 1002s, SF133s).

 New Single Sign-On/Users Management Module – begin integration efforts with

Defense Information Systems Agency for single sign-on for across user organizations.

 Cloud Containerization – port modern web applications to container-based solutions

for deployment.

 Assessment of Military Services, Defense Agencies, and Field Activities’ Budget

Formulation Systems Architecture – assess the Department-wide program and

budget systems to understand the current formulation capability and identify how

the Department should enhance the next-generation system.

- Beginning in FY 2025,

 Budget Exhibit Reform/Updates – implement Department-wide solutions (auto

populate the Manpower Exhibits from the NGRMS Manpower module, enhance

manpower to dollar analysis capabilities, etc.).

 Expand API Gateways – continue to automate interfaces through the Department to

facilitate data sharing with PPBE partners and beyond.

 NGRMS Enterprise Architecture – consolidate budget formulation architecture across

the Department, beginning with one Military Service and one Defense Agency.

Implementation Plan for the Recommendations from the Commission on PPBE Reform’s Interim Report Page 9

- Beginning in FY 2026,

 Integrate End-to-End PPBE – use capabilities of cloud solutions to sync fund controls,

budget formulation and other PPBE data.

 Implement Artificial Intelligence (AI)/Machine Learning (ML) Across Functions and

Processes – implement AI/ML technologies to increase productivity and deliver new

ways for end-users to interact with NGRMS data.

Recommendation 11: Establish classified and unclassified enclaves for

DoD-Congress-DoD information sharing.

The Commission recommends the CDAO, in coordination with the OUSD(C), will further develop

both classified and unclassified enclaves to share appropriate budgetary information with

Congress and for Congress to share information with DoD. The Commission’s recommendation is

to establish classified and unclassified enclaves for DoD-Congress-DoD information sharing in a

manner that makes them searchable, sortable, and able to be updated electronically by both the

Congress and DoD.

The Commission noted that most of the budget information transmitted by the Department to

Congress continues to be sent in static form. Similarly, congressional actions and requests for

information are generally transmitted in paper form or as static documents.

 Feasibility Assessment: The Department has been testing multiple avenues for sharing

information with Congress, to include creating an enclave that includes the ability to host

and federate data products developed on the DoD Information Network. Additionally, a DoD-

Congress-DoD information sharing platform that provides access to select congressional staff

to instances of DoD applications is also currently in experimentation.

The Commission encouraged the Department to expand the information sharing platform

capabilities for the purposes of three PPBE applications for:

1. Delivery of annual presidential budget (PB) request and associated budget justification

materials.

2. Congressional delivery of data to DoD.

3. DoD delivery of reprogramming actions and execution reports to Congress.

 Key Actions & Activities: Expand the information sharing capabilities to include three PPBE

applications.

1. Application 1 for delivery of the annual PB request and budget justification materials.

The Advana platform has the foundation to provide digital delivery of the PB request and

justification materials through a searchable, sortable database. The budget justification

Implementation Plan for the Recommendations from the Commission on PPBE Reform’s Interim Report Page 10

book (J-book) data would feed from authoritative J-book writing systems into a singular

enclave that is searchable, sortable, and able to be updated.

The enclave would also support the Commission’s recommendations on standardization

of justification materials and mid-year budget updates, as discussed in Section IV. Of

note, this is a practice used by other federal agencies, such as the Department of

Homeland Security, where agencies and components build their J-Books in disparate

systems but aggregate into a single system.

Key Deliverables:

- Data sharing agreements with all DoD Components to automatically upload PB feeds

to Advana

- J-book Common Data Model (CDM)

- CDM review to support the Commission’s recommendations on standardization of

justification materials and mid-year budget updates as discussed in Section IV

- Outline and implement Advana dataops standards

- Dashboard support for iterative updates to standards

2. Application 2 for congressional delivery of data to DoD. A collaboration between the DoD

and Congress enabling information sharing from Congress to DoD the outcomes from the

legislative process, to include congressional marks to the annual PB submission, as well as

accompanying congressional report language. This application would either leverage or

be integrated with the above enclave and offer a digestible and ingestible data format.

This solution would significantly reduce work hours required to input, review, and analyze

data while also minimizing discrepancies for outcomes, including congressional marks,

reporting requirements, and legislative limitations.

As an interim solution, Congress could share with the Department outcomes, including

congressional marks and congressional reporting requirements, in a Microsoft Excel

format, or similar ingestible data format, in addition to the currently used PDF format

until a more robust and integrated capability is implemented.

Key Deliverables:

- Interface for DoD to receive taskings, generate records and reports, submit to

congressional committee(s) or user(s)

- Users able to annotate records and perform actions on the records

- User permissions management

- User task distribution capability similar to a detailed portfolio by user

- Data capture capability via spreadsheet upload similar to a bulk upload, forms

- Email alerts

- Data table, CDM review and update to consume CHARRTS data

- Data table generation for data discovery, searching, sorting, and export

Implementation Plan for the Recommendations from the Commission on PPBE Reform’s Interim Report Page 11

3. Application 3 for reprogramming actions and execution reports. Above threshold

reprogramming requests are a time-consuming administrative process, requiring the

wide use of PDFs and email delivery to request DoD leadership, OMB, and Congressional

approvals. A common enterprise-wide coordination and tracking system for all

stakeholders would significantly reduce process time, highlight source and requirement

trends, and leverage automation to lessen errors, duplication, or misplacement.

As an interim step, DoD and Congress could make use of the information sharing

platform enclave. The Department could upload PDF submissions to Congress and then

Congress could upload approvals and denials to the Department until a more robust and

integrated capability is implemented.

Key Deliverables:

- User permissions management

- User request designation

- Email interface similar to a search application

- Data pipeline development

- Automatic metadata extraction via form upload

- Data table, CDM review and update to integrate schema

- Data table implementation for data discovery, searching, sorting, and export

 Timeline: Delivery is estimated to be 12 months from minimum viable product (MVP)

through initial operating capability (IOC) to full operating capability (FOC). Once funding is

identified for these applications, delivery will begin.

- Application 1 for delivery of the PB request and budget justification materials. MVP, IOC,

FOC: All data feeds available in Advana and consumed by search and analytic apps; data

dashboard; test feeding data from original sources to the Advana cluster; adding,

removing, and clarifying dashboard capabilities and views after the MVP.

- Application 2 for delivery of Congressional data to DoD. MVP, IOC, FOC: Defense

committee data capture application with standardized spreadsheet upload formats,

deployed in information sharing platform with user permissions management; tasking

and capture tool (CHARRTS replacement) with permission-based user tasking capabilities;

form response; gold table integration and automated emails/alerts; fully integrate

replacement for CHARRTS on Advana information sharing platform.

- Application 3 for reprogramming actions and execution reports. MVP, IOC, FOC: PDF

upload application with data table interface and automated email notifications; request

and approval application with email interface and data support; fully integrate tool on

Advana information sharing platform.

Implementation Plan for the Recommendations from the Commission on PPBE Reform’s Interim Report Page 12

Recommendation 12: Continue the focus on improving recruiting and

retention.

The Commission states that both CAPE and OUSD(C) realize they need to recruit more personnel

with the right analytic skillsets. Both continue to recruit personnel from the Military Departments

and DoD Components who have the appropriate analytic skills and experience. However, that is

insufficient to support the recruiting requirements of CAPE and OUSD(C). The Commission

recommends continued efforts to recruit and retain personnel for both CAPE and OUSD(C),

including seeking approval for new approaches such as direct hires, incentives, and bonuses.

 Feasibility Assessment (Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller)): A similar

effort is currently underway within the Department. Known as the DoD FM Enterprise

Recruitment Pilot, it is focused on the FM community in the DoD Components that are

expending resources competing against each other within the same talent pools. At the

same time, the Department loses highly qualified talent when an office is not the first choice

for a position.

The desired outcome is increased recruitment and retention through better identification

and management of potential talent using coordinated engagement and information sharing.

The approach is a collaborative outreach strategy that highlights the breadth of FM

opportunities at DoD while also helping to funnel the right talent to the right positions across

the Department. The pilot is testing three concepts:

1. Enterprise Narrative – create a cohesive “DoD FM” branding and market strategy that

focuses on the FM breadth and opportunities across the Department throughout a

career.

2. High-Touch Talent Cultivation – develop a model of continuous engagement with high-

caliber candidates (similar to industry) to educate and assist them throughout the hiring

process.

3. Pooled Talent Management – Share candidates amongst DoD components and across

positions, ensuring DoD is best positioned to successfully capture exceptional talent to fill

priority vacancies.

This plan supports the DoD FM Strategy’s Strategic Goal #1 to Cultivate a skilled and inspired

FM workforce.

 Feasibility Assessment (Office of Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation): CAPE has

strengthened strategic partnerships to grow a cadre of future federal employees through

internship and scholarship programs including the DoD Historically Black Colleges &

Universities and Minority Serving Institutions Science Program

, the American Association

for the Advancement of Science, the Presidential Management Fellowship

, John S. McCain

https://basicresearch.defense.gov/Programs/HBCU-MI-Program/

https://www.pmf.gov/

Implementation Plan for the Recommendations from the Commission on PPBE Reform’s Interim Report Page 13

Strategic Defense Fellowship

, the Partnership for Public Service’s Harold W. Rosenthal

Fellowship, and the Science, Mathematics, and Research for Transformation Scholarship-for-

Service Program. CAPE has also created a unified summer internship program to ensure all

interns had a meaningful experience while also recruiting qualified individuals into the

organization at the right time.

The desired outcome is increased recruitment and retention through better identification

and management of potential talent using coordinated engagement and information sharing.

 Key Actions & Activities (Comptroller):

1. Phase 1 Design:

- Establish a working group to design the pilot;

- Complete analysis of both the current state of FM hiring and talent, as well as private

sector best practices for talent recruiting;

- Use available FM workforce data to identify the highest priorities and establish metrics

of success; and

- Draft pilot design that will:

• Recommend tasks, positions, and roles for a talent acquisition team,

• Propose a governance structure,

• Identify targeted hiring priorities,

• Establish a plan of action and milestones,

• Design a metrics dashboard, and

• Identify risks and determine potential mitigation plans.

2. Phase 2 Stand-Up:

- Establish support team and norms across the DoD Components to ensure delivery of

the pilot,

- Launch governance structure,

- Draft and obtain approval on enterprise branding and marketing strategy,

- Collect baseline data for metrics/measurement dashboards, and

- Build pilot calendar and schedule critical recruitment engagements.

3. Phase 3 Pilot Execution:

- Execute the pilot plan, facilitating a variety of recruitment engagements:

• Collect and share candidate information for consideration with participating FM

offices, and

• Deliver a high-touch talent cultivation model for candidates of interest; and

- Within 30 days of the conclusion of the pilot, complete a final report that compiles

metrics, reviews key findings, identifies best practices, and, if warranted, recommends

a path to operationalize the enterprise recruitment concept.

 Timeline: 12 months that includes one month research/design, two months stand-up, and

nine months to execute pilot and provide final report.

https://www.whs.mil/About-WHS/Directorates/Human-Resources-Directorate-HRD/Careers/John-S-McCain-

Strategic-Defense-Fellowship-Program/

Implementation Plan for the Recommendations from the Commission on PPBE Reform’s Interim Report Page 14

OTHER NEAR-TERM RECOMMENDATIONS

Recommendation 2: Restructure justification books.

The Commission recommends that the DoD should work with Congress to establish common

formats and content for the J-books to provide needed content in a common format. There should

be consistent language and depth of budgetary and programmatic content where there are

cross-cutting programs and activities, such as the RDT&E budget lines and the O&M readiness

accounts. Further, the current budget justification books vary widely in scope and content, with

some large program writeups providing limited information while some smaller programs provide

extensive detail.

 Feasibility Assessment: The Department’s objective is to research and propose a new

justification book structure that:

1. Present a strategy-linked explanation of programs and funding that incorporates, where

appropriate, the Department’s Strategic Management Plan

(SMP) initiatives and

nomenclature, in particular, ones that strengthen the Department’s capabilities to report

on investments and programs against the NDS strategic priorities.

2. Provide content for cross-cutting programs and activities with consistency and

uniformity.

3. Streamline exhibits to evenly and efficiently present program details and requirements.

The Department will also explore methods of improving the quality and timeliness of the

justification books. To the greatest extent possible, the Department will work to incorporate

disparate congressional recommendations and preferences on justification book format,

content, etc.

This plan supports the DoD FM Strategy’s Strategic Goals #2, 4, and 5 to optimize taxpayer

dollars for the highest value outcomes, simplify policy to support productive change, and

improve data quality to make data easier to use for decision-making.

 Key Actions & Activities:

1. Assemble a cross-functional working group comprised of FM experts with a

representative from each Military Service and Defense Agency.

https://media.defense.gov/2023/Mar/13/2003178168/-1/-1/1/DOD-STRATEGIC-MGMT-PLAN-2023.PDF

Implementation Plan for the Recommendations from the Commission on PPBE Reform’s Interim Report Page 15

2. Assess the PPBE Reform Commission’s recommendation to restructure justification

books.

3. Develop a questionnaire to facilitate feedback from the DoD enterprise as well as the

congressional defense oversight committees.

4. Engage with the congressional defense oversight committees to solicit feedback on the

current justification book structure across all appropriations.

 Timeline:

- Spring 2024: Hold a workshop with all DoD stakeholders to begin the Department’s

assessment of the Commission’s recommendation to restructure the justification books.

- Beginning in Spring 2024: Assemble a cross-functional group with representatives from

each Military Service and Defense Agency. The group will begin engaging with DoD

stakeholders and the congressional defense oversight committees to solicit feedback on

the current justification book structure across all appropriations.

- Late 2025: The working group will complete its work in about one year after its

establishment.

Recommendation 3: Improve training for preparation of budget

justification materials.

The Commission recommends creation of training courses for various types of budget justification

materials, including J-books, data files, and staffer briefings. Course material for inclusion in

existing courses or individual courses should be created for financial management (FM) and

acquisition personnel and for other groups as needed. The training should also be offered to

Congressional staff and personnel on a voluntary basis.

 Feasibility Assessment: Budget justification material provides the necessary information to

defend and justify the Department’s annual budget request to Congress. Currently, there are

no Department-wide trainings as part of the DoD Financial Management Certification

Program

(DFMCP)that are specifically targeted to budget justification material creation.

There are some training courses in the Military Departments, Defense Agencies, and Field

Activities and on-the-job learning.

The objective is to establish standardized and structured training available Department-wide

beginning with a foundation in the basics of why the justification material is important and

progressing into developing and writing narratives and j-books, rollout briefings, talking

points, and other materials. Adding training classes to the DFMCP is possible.

https://comptroller.defense.gov/External-Links/FMCert/

Implementation Plan for the Recommendations from the Commission on PPBE Reform’s Interim Report Page 16

This curriculum review and subsequent content development will support DoD FM Strategic

Goal 1: Cultivate a skilled and inspired FM workforce and will initially focus on data analytic

skills and improving budget justification materials preparation.

 Key Actions & Activities:

1. Establish a DoD FM Curriculum Review Committee and approve charter and governance

charter.

2. Complete the three phases of the DoD FM Curriculum Review Process:

- Competencies Review – review the FM workforce’s competencies to determine where

the workforce’s knowledge, skills, and abilities need to be strengthened;

- Curriculum Review – review existing courses to determine if they provide sufficient

competencies to obtain certification and update and develop curriculum, where

necessary; and

- Composition Review - review program achievement and determine required

certification level, required years of required experience, required continuing

education training requirements, and reciprocity.

3. Final review by FM Senior Leadership Group (SLG) to approve and incorporate new and

revised training classes into the DFMCP.

 Timeline:

- Beginning in the second quarter of 2024, establish a DoD FM Curriculum Review

Committee, including establishing a charter and a governance charter and appoint a

curriculum review committee. Begin FM Curriculum Review including a review of the

competencies, curriculum, and composition.

- Summer 2024: complete the DoD FM Curriculum Review Process, including

Competencies Review, Curriculum Review, and Composition Review.

- Fall 2024: add training classes to DFMCP after FM Senior Leadership Group review and

approval.

Recommendation 4: Improve training for DoD liaisons.

The report asserts there is a lack of standardized training across DoD for anyone who serves in a

liaison position, mentions best practices across the Services and DoD Components that should be

formalized, and identifies some key components such as “dos and don’ts”, a PPBE primer, and

Congressional timelines that should be included in training to better empower legislative liaisons.

The Commission recommends that OASD(LA) in coordination with OUSD(C)/BAA provide this

standardized and structured training.

Implementation Plan for the Recommendations from the Commission on PPBE Reform’s Interim Report Page 17

 Feasibility Assessment: The current training program in the Military Services is the DoD

Congressional Fellowship Program and can be a three-plus-year program including graduate-

level study, one-year Hill fellowship, and two-to-three-year payback tour.

Providing additional Department-level training across DoD to congressional liaisons is

feasible.

The objective would be to define the required knowledge and skills, identify or develop

training or education to provide the knowledge and skills, identify liaison positions, and

ensure individuals in these positions possess the required knowledge and skills. Completion

of required training and education before or shortly after assignment to a liaison position

would be expected.

This plan supports the DoD FM Strategy’s Strategic Goal #1 to Cultivate a skilled and inspired

FM workforce.

 Key Actions & Activities:

1. Identify current DoD Component liaison training and best practices.

2. Identify required knowledge and skills for liaisons, recognizing existing appropriations

guidance.

3. Align existing training and education to required knowledge and skills and source or

develop training for any gaps.

4. Identify liaison positions and current liaisons within the Department.

5. Assess knowledge and skills of current and incoming liaisons.

6. Provide training/education to liaisons.

7. Maintain records of liaison positions, current and inbound liaisons, and training and

education to sustain effort.

8. Codify requirements in DoD guidance.

 Timeline:

- Beginning in the second quarter of 2024,

 Identify current DoD Component liaison training and best practices;

 Identify required knowledge and skills for liaisons, recognizing existing appropriations

guidance;

 Align existing training and education to required knowledge and skills and source or

develop training for any gaps; and

 Identify liaison positions and current liaisons within the Department.

- Summer of 2024, begin assessing knowledge and skills of current and incoming liaisons.

- Beginning in the Winter of 2024,

Implementation Plan for the Recommendations from the Commission on PPBE Reform’s Interim Report Page 18

 Provide training/education to liaisons;

 Codify requirements in DoD guidance; and

 Maintain records of liaison positions, current and inbound liaisons, and training and

education.

Recommendation 6: Review and Update of PPBE-related guidance

documents.

The Commission states they heard repeatedly about the undue burden and confusion caused by

unclear guidance, which creates increased workloads and delays moving at the speed necessary

to support modern warfighting requirements. A key component in enabling the PPBE process is

providing clear, consistent, and current guidance that enables efficient and effective decision-

making at the lowest levels. This includes systematic updates and revisions at least every three

years of key finance, acquisition, and program guidance documents, such as the FMR, to provide

a more useful and timely resource to DoD managers. The Commission recommends a systematic

revision and update of the FMR, as well as an update to DoDD 7045.14, “The Planning,

Programming, Budgeting, and Execution (PPBE) Process,” which establishes policy and assigns

responsibilities for the PPBE process.

 Feasibility Assessment: The DoD Financial Management Regulation

(FMR) consists of 333

chapters related to all phases of the Planning, Programming, Budgeting, and Execution

process. The Department mandates a comprehensive review and update of all DoD

publications within a maximum timeframe of 10 years from the last publication date.

However, the FMR undergoes a more rigorous biennial review. From January to December

of 2023, 118 chapters were updated or revised and published.

The Department of Defense

Directive (DoDD) 7045.14

was last issued in August 2017.

Objective:

1. Review and update the FMR chapters that require revisions including reviewing for

language that causes confusion and undue burden in the Department.

- There are seven revision categories but only four categories are applicable for this

purpose review: Administrative, Rewrite, Nondiscretionary, and Discretionary.

• Administrative revisions are restricted to corrections related to format,

spelling/grammar, hyperlinks, and a limited amount of clarifying language.

https://comptroller.defense.gov/FMR.aspx

https://comptroller.defense.gov/FMR/change.aspx

https://www.esd.whs.mil/Portals/54/Documents/DD/issuances/dodd/704514p.pdf

Implementation Plan for the Recommendations from the Commission on PPBE Reform’s Interim Report Page 19

• Rewrite refers to a streamlining effort to improve readability with no change to

policy.

• Nondiscretionary revisions are required to implement a statutory change or

regulatory change from an authoritative source.

• Discretionary revisions establish sound financial management policy but are not

mandated by statute/regulation.

- Timeframes to update and coordinate across Department stakeholders and publish to

the public website are estimated to range from eight weeks to six months.

2. Update and reissue the DoDD 7045.14 with a revision focus on recent reforms to the

program review process and a review of assigned responsibilities for the PPBE process.

This plan supports the DoD FM Strategy’s Strategic Goals #1, 2, and 4 to Cultivate a skilled

and inspired FM workforce, optimize taxpayer dollars for the highest value outcomes, and

simplify policy to support productive change.

 Key Actions & Activities:

1. Identify FMR chapters that require revisions and assign a revision category, action officer,

and publication due date.

2. Update and reissue the DoDD 7045.14 with a focus on incorporating recent reforms to

the program review process and a review of assigned responsibilities for the PPBE

process.

 Timeline:

- Beginning in the second quarter of 2024, start the process of assessing and categorizing

FMR chapters for revision, and assign a revision category, action officer, and publication

due date.

 By the end of 2024, update and publish 20 percent of chapters identified for revision.

 By the end of 2025, update and publish 40 percent of chapters identified for revision.

 By the end of 2026, update and publish the remaining 40 percent of chapters

identified for revision.

- The DoDD 7045.14 review and reissue will follow the standard procedures for processing

DoD Issuances, per Department of Defense Issuance (DoDI) 5025.01.

Recommendation 7: Improve understanding of private sector practices.

The Commission states that increasingly, DoD needs the assistance of the private sector, including

small business and venture capital firms, to provide the innovation needed to meet warfighter

requirements. The Commission believes that PPBE personnel should be better informed about

Implementation Plan for the Recommendations from the Commission on PPBE Reform’s Interim Report Page 20

private sector firms and their incentive structures to increase DoD’s understanding about how

PPBE decisions impact private firms and make better decisions during the PPBE process.

Familiarization should include financial management in private sector companies including profit

and loss considerations, market analyses that private enterprises use to make decisions about

DoD projects, timelines faced by private sector firms, including the short timelines faced by some

small businesses, and differences in the overall culture between private firms and DoD.

 Feasibility Assessment: Develop and implement initiatives to improve holistic understanding

of private sector practices to include industry (traditional and non-traditional defense) as

well as sources of capital.

The end state is a strategic, data-driven approach to engagements that enhance DoD

understanding of private sector structures, incentives, and practices, resulting in increased

DoD senior leader decision-making capability as well as strengthened industry partner

activity, transparency, and performance.

 Key Actions & Activities:

1. Establish a cadence for regular site visits and meetings with private sector entities,

including financial partners such as venture capital and private equity firms, to

understand business operating models, financial structures and incentives, and

differences in operating timelines.

2. Regular engagements with industry informed by subject matter expert research and

analysis.

3. Conduct recurring analysis of the state of the industrial base, with in-depth assessments

of company financial data, capabilities, portfolio, capital structure, alignment to defense

priorities, opportunities, and challenges.

4. Increase the use of data and analytics, including researching publicly available

information (financials, market data, and capabilities) and internal DoD data (such as

Program Executive Office assessments).

5. Ensure that industry engagement in support of the National Defense Industrial Strategy

aligns to and informs the PBBE process and provides long-term plans and guidance for

investment in the industrial base.

6. Adopt a proactive, analytical approach to engaging industry that reflects National

Defense Strategy and National Defense Industrial Strategy priorities.

 Timeline:

- Facilitate industry engagements across multiple sectors to solicit feedback, understand

key issues, incentivize partnerships with DoD, and inform how private sectors practices

can lead to better decisions during the PPBE cycle.

 Increase visibility, thought leadership, and active participation in meetings,

conferences, roundtables, site visits, and other events to engage with industry, DoD

partners, and financial community partners.

Implementation Plan for the Recommendations from the Commission on PPBE Reform’s Interim Report Page 21

 Operationalize understanding of best practices within private sector and promote

awareness among DoD stakeholders to enhance decision-making capability.

Recommendation 9: Expand PPBE analytics via Advana.

The Commission recommends the OUSD(C), in coordination with the CDAO and the Director of

CAPE, develop an implementation plan to expand the scope of analytics of the PPBE process

within Advana. Ensuring all organizations are leveraging the same authoritative, transaction-level

data will drive more meaningful data-informed decisions while maintaining appropriate controls.

The Advana platform offers over a hundred existing commercial solutions; open architectures to

bring in additional commercial solutions; development, security, and operations (DEVSECOPS)

practices; existing connections to authoritative accounting systems for continuous or near-

continuous data feeds; and analytic technologies.

 Feasibility Assessment: Integrating Advana as a foundational tool in the PPBE process is well

underway across the Department. Developing it further is feasible. Continued iteration and

education on the reporting tools will further expand the Department’s use of Advana.

Dashboards for tracking metrics such as obligation rates, unobligated balances, execution

status, and trend analysis are currently in use in Advana. The data sources and Advana

reports to support PPBE reviews are available. The OUSD(C) offices overseeing Operation &

Maintenance, Military Personnel, and Investment appropriations use Advana to support Mid-

Year and other PPBE processes.

The Revolving Funds team within OUSD(C) EFT has been using Advana since 2020. In March

2022, the budget execution review processes and Mid-Year Review were moved into an

Advana application that automated the alignment of budget exhibit metrics with financial

statement execution data. This provided common views, analytics, and standardized views

for customers Department-wide, including views on Funds Balance with Treasury, Net

Operating Results, and new customer orders and obligations. Machine learning projects are

also in use to forecast Working Capital Funds collections and disbursements.

This plan supports the DoD FM Strategy’s Strategic Goals #2, 4, and 5 to optimize taxpayer

dollars for the highest value outcomes, simplify policy to support productive change, and

improve data quality to make data easier to use for decision-making.

 Key Actions & Activities:

1. Leverage Advana during execution reviews to enhance the Department’s ability to assess

program performance.

2. Maximize NGRMS and Advana integration for application across the full range of PPBE

activities and expand automated analytics capabilities.

Implementation Plan for the Recommendations from the Commission on PPBE Reform’s Interim Report Page 22

3. Further develop Advana’s tools for the Programming and Budgeting processes within the

PPBE cycle:

 Evaluate access management and segmentation of the Advana platform to ensure it

is secure and complies with DoD security requirements and classification guidance

and enhance, as needed, for new development;

 Incorporate new data sources and predictive modeling for programming, budgeting,

and execution datasets to expand existing reports in Advana for enhanced execution

reviews;

 Ingest budget justification books and congressional marks to accelerate the use of

Advana for analysis of robust programmatic data;

 Ingest key budget execution files on the on a classified network to expand the full

picture of budget execution to include both unclassified and classified budgetary

information;

 Link transaction-level detail from the general ledger with budgetary information to

enhance data-driven resource planning and deliver detailed and closer-to-real-time

reporting of execution status instead of monthly execution reports; and

 Initial AI/ML efforts for predictive modeling for enhanced near-term and long-term

financial planning and execution forecasting.

 Timeline:

- Beginning in 2024,

 Evaluate access management and segmentation of the Advana platform and enhance

access management and segmentation capabilities, as needed, for new development.

 Ingest and stabilize budgetary data on the classified network.

 Expand use of Advana more widely across the FY 2024 Mid-Year Review processes

and then expand use of Advana fully for the FY 2025 Mid-Year Review processes.

 Investigate new data sources and predictive modeling for programming, budgeting,

and execution datasets.

 Initial AI/ML efforts.

 Expand NGRMS and Advana integration.

- In FY 2025,

 Further integrate NGRMS data within Advana for use during the Program Budget

Review for FY 2026-2030.

 Begin the ingestion of budget justification books and congressional marks.

- By the end of FY 2026, complete general ledger transactional data integration with

budgetary information.

Implementation Plan for the Recommendations from the Commission on PPBE Reform’s Interim Report Page 23

Recommendation 10: Provide annual report to Congress and briefing on

DoD’s strategy for consolidating, rationalizing, integrating, and

modernizing DoD PPBE business systems and all related tools to support

the PPBE process.

The Commission recommended the OUSD(C), in coordination with DoD Chief Information Officer

(CIO), CAPE, and CDAO, should provide the congressional defense committees an annual report

and briefing on the Department’s strategy for consolidating, rationalizing, integrating, and

modernizing DoD PPBE business systems, feeder systems, platforms, databases, and tools used to

support the PPBE process.

The report should address what has been accomplished in implementing the Department’s

strategy, the roadmap for future consolidation and modernization, the ongoing process for

assessing the PPBE business system environment, and efforts being made to provide training of

personnel on new systems and processes related to PPBE.

 Feasibility Assessment: Much of the content in this recommendation is included in the

Defense Business Systems Audit Remediation Plan, which is already submitted annually to

Congress. Additionally, the Department’s Enterprise FM IT Roadmap includes PPBE systems

and assessment processes to date.

This roadmap is primarily focused on systems that may impact internal controls over financial

reporting (ICOFR), which align to DoD’s auditability goals. To address non-ICOFR relevant

PPBE systems, the roadmap’s currently used assessment criteria and processes would

require a review to determine what revisions are necessary. The goal is a report and briefing

that provides Congress with a progress update on the Department’s implementation of PPBE

system consolidation and modernization efforts, to include ongoing processes used to assess

and identify additional consolidation and modernization opportunities within a ‘living’

systems roadmap.

The Department would request Congressional reporting requirements be consolidated for

efficiency opportunities.

This plan supports the DoD FM Strategy’s Strategic Goals #3 and 4 to Increase the integrity of

financial results and simplify policy to support productive change.

 Key Actions & Activities:

1. Validate accuracy and completeness of PPBE system scope within the Enterprise FM IT

Roadmap, adding/removing systems as appropriate.

2. Implement and execute a recurring process that leverages the DoD Business

Architecture, the Financial Systems Database, DoD Information Technology Portfolio

Repository, and other authoritative sources to validate the accuracy and completeness of

PPBE systems inventory.

Implementation Plan for the Recommendations from the Commission on PPBE Reform’s Interim Report Page 24

- Assess current system rationalization and prioritization criteria to determine if

additional criteria or assessment processes should be designed and implemented to

identify consolidation and modernization opportunities of PPBE systems.

- Conduct Annual FM Systems Review to assess compliance with Financial

Management Improvement Act, leveraging results to require system improvement

plans, ensure critical funding is available to execute system changes, and/or directly

influence system consolidation / retirement plans.

- Improve data accuracy and completeness of DoD systems information in authoritative

systems; incorporate data and executive analytics from Pulse.

- Develop IT Portfolio Management dashboards, tools, and reporting mechanisms to:

 Identify consolidation and modernization opportunities,

 Expand and automate compliance assessments,

 Provide a single source of truth for system compliance,

 Improve accountability and oversight of system migration and retirement plans,

 Improve system data quality,

 Ensure new systems include appropriate system & process training, and

 Capture estimated costs and funding availability to streamline PPBE systems and

implement improvement plans.

- Update instruction on business systems requirements and acquisition (DoDI

5000.75

), including stakeholder responsibilities.

 Timeline:

- Beginning in 2024,

 Validate accuracy and completeness of PPBE system scope within the Enterprise FM

IT Roadmap, adding/removing systems as appropriate.

 Implement and execute recurring process that leverages the DoD Business

Architecture, the Financial Systems Database, DoD Information Technology Portfolio

Repository, and other authoritative sources to validate the accuracy and

completeness of PPBE systems inventory.

- Three months prior to report and briefing due date:

 Develop report outline, identify data source(s), and assign tasks.

 Obtain latest consolidation and modernization plans from Components.

 Complete draft and coordination and submit report to Congress.

https://www.esd.whs.mil/Portals/54/Documents/DD/issuances/dodi/500075p.PDF

Implementation Plan for the Recommendations from the Commission on PPBE Reform’s Interim Report Page 25

Recommendation 13: Streamline processes and improve analytic

capabilities to reduce workload.

The Commission recommends the DoD improve analytic capabilities to reduce the workload of

personnel involved in the PPBE process. It identifies several actions to achieve this goal, including

revising policy to delegate approval authority to senior staff members, leveraging the NGRMS for

data management, optimizing the use of the Advana for budgetary analytic capabilities, and

streamlining the organizational structure.

 Feasibility Assessment: It is feasible that Recommendation 13 in conjunction with

Recommendation 9 would have a direct benefit in reducing workload, improving financial

transparency and data accuracy, and improving analytic capabilities and efficiency.

NGRMS replaced two legacy systems and current capabilities decreased workload by

reducing the need for data re-entry and correction. These capabilities combined with the

customized dashboards in Advana further reduce workload and increase automated analytics

through standardized and detailed reports that track budget data against actuals data from

the programming and budgeting phases through the execution phase.

Advana already has visualizations tracking budget and execution trends and visualization

dashboards with performance management information. Further, the Department has

deployed multiple Advana applications that reduce workload and increase automated

analytics, including the Revolving Funds Daily Cash Balance application that tracks daily

estimates of the Working Capital Funds’ Fund Balance with Treasury against budget

thresholds, and the Spend Plan Module identifies spend plan variances for the General

Funds. These tools decrease the frequency of manual data calls, provided standardized

reporting, and improve financial visibility.

In development in Advana is a protype that ties the direction from the programming phase to

the actuals from the execution phase and then feeds back into the programming phase for

the upcoming budget submission. The development of this tool will allow analysts to better

track compliance with prior years’ programming direction and provide more accessible data

from execution.

This plan supports the DoD FM Strategy’s Strategic Goals #2, 4, and 5 to optimize taxpayer

dollars for the highest value outcomes, simplify policy to support productive change, and

improve data quality to make data easier to use for decision-making.

 Key Actions & Activities:

1. Enhance budgetary and execution trend analysis with Advana - leverage Advana for

advanced budgetary and compliance with programming decisions trend analysis,

enabling more informed decision-making and reducing inefficient workload.

2. Embed performance management executive analytics in Pulse – incorporate executive

analytics on the SMP strategic framework, performance goals measures, targets, and

results, as well as Performance Improvement Initiative data (milestones and

deliverables), providing performance data into resourcing decisions.

Implementation Plan for the Recommendations from the Commission on PPBE Reform’s Interim Report Page 26

3. Improve general ledger nomenclature alignment - align the nomenclature of general

ledger systems with NGRMS and standard financial information structure compliance to

enhance tracking capabilities between programming, budgeting, and execution processes

and improve data accuracy.

4. Streamline and automate data ingestion processes – continue to automate Advana data

ingestion processes, including transactional data.

5. Enhance Advana’s financial management segment’s data management – reduce manual

data calls and manual analysis; enhance capabilities for transaction type input web

application tools; continue to integrate the full PPBE process into Advana with

investment in master data management for appropriate segment and access

management to ingest PPBE planning, program, and other pre-decisional financial data.

6. Optimize NGRMS data integration – integrate NGRMS data in Advana; enhance visibility

for budget data; improve budget-to-execution reconciliation; make critical budget data

and information readily accessible for data-based decision-making processes in the

programming and budgeting phases of PPBE.

7. Invest in a change management program – educate the workforce on the technical

capabilities of Advana, instill confidence in the data, and increase workforce knowledge

and skill level to navigate Advana applications effectively.

 Timeline:

- Beginning in 2024,

 Enhance budgetary and execution trend analysis with Advana.

 Invest in a change management program.

 Embed performance management executive analytics in Pulse.

 Streamline and automate data ingestion processes during new data and system

onboarding for FY 2025.

 Optimize NGRMS data integration for FY 2025.

 Enhance Advana’s financial management segment’s data management for FY 2025.

 Improve general ledger nomenclature alignment for FY 2026.

Implementation Plan for the Recommendations from the Commission on PPBE Reform’s Interim Report Page 27

FURTHER DISCUSSION AND BACKGROUND

NTERIM REPORT OVERVIEW.

The Interim Report

was publicly released on August 15,

2023. The Commissioners and commission staff conducted over 560 interviews, 29 formal

Commission-led open mics, and 15 engagements with the professional staff of the congressional

defense committees. They heard from experts across the PPBE process and related fields

including current and former persons from Congress, DoD, industry, academia, other Federal

organizations, and research organizations. Within the Department, they interviewed well over

100 different offices including several hundred military and civilian employees and made several

hundred information requests.

The Interim Report outlined 13 recommendations that the Commission believed Congress and

DoD could act on now to improve the PPBE process and ten potential recommendations

requiring additional DoD and Congressional stakeholder feedback to inform the Commission’s

Final Report. The remaining ten were identified as potential recommendations for inclusion in

the Final Report, which is congressionally mandated to be released in March 2024. These

potential recommendations were noted as requiring additional stakeholder feedback and

analysis before inclusion in the Final Report. Seven of the ten were identified as potential  key

recommendations.

Commission on PPBE Reform Interim Report. Released 15 August 2023.

https://ppbereform.senate.gov/interimreport/

List 2 - Potential Recommendations

PPBE-related DoD and Congress relationships

None

Innovation and Adaptability

 Colors of money, a different approach

 Modify thresholds for Below Threshold

Reprogrammings

 Modify internal DoD reprogramming

requirements

 Modify availability of appropriations

 Mitigate problems caused by Continuing

Resolutions

• RDT&E Budget Activities consolidation

Alignment of Budgets to Strategy

 Transform the budget structure

 Strengthen the Defense Planning Guidance

• Create continuous planning, analysis, &

operational metrics to inform all PPBE phases

PPBE Business Systems and Data Analytics

None

DoD Programming and Budgeting Workforce

• Increase staffing levels for programming and

budgeting workforce

 Key Recommendations

Implementation Plan for the Recommendations from the Commission on PPBE Reform’s Interim Report Page 28

COMMISSION ON PPBE REFORM. The Congress established the Commission on PPBE

Reform

in Section 1004 of the FY 2022 NDAA to examine the effectiveness of the Defense

Department’s PPBE process.

The Commissioners and the Department’s Liaison. The Commission is comprised of 14

Commissioners

with experience across the congressional, defense, budgeting, acquisition, and

innovation ecosystems. The Secretary of Defense appointed two members to the Commission –

Honorable Lisa Disbrow and Honorable Peter Levin – and designated Ms. Julie Frisard to serve in

the congressionally mandated role as the liaison between the Department and the Commission.

The remaining 12 Commissioners were appointed by the Majority Leader and the Minority

Leader of the Senate, Speaker of the House and the Minority Leader, and Chair and Ranking

members of the four defense oversight committees.

The PPBE process. The PPBE system was first created in the early 1960s to allocate Department

resources to meet national security objectives. The Commission was established to make

recommendations on ways to improve the PPBE process, specifically to enhance the United

States’ ability to counter strategic competitors.

Commission purpose. The purpose of the Commission is to (1) examine the effectiveness of the

planning, programming, budgeting, and execution process and adjacent practices of the DoD,

particularly with respect to facilitating defense modernization; (2) consider potential alternatives

to such process and practices to maximize the ability of the DoD to respond in a timely manner

to current and future threats; and (3) make legislative and policy recommendations to improve

such process and practices in order to field the operational capabilities necessary to outpace

near-peer competitors, provide data and analytical insight, and support an integrated budget

that is aligned with strategic defense objectives.

Congressionally mandated duties. The Commission is congressionally mandated by the FY 2022

NDAA to perform the following duties:

(1) Compare the planning, programming, budgeting, and execution process of the

Department of Defense, including the development and production of documents including

the Defense Planning Guidance (described in section 113(g) of title 10, United States Code),

the Program Objective Memorandum, and the Budget Estimate Submission, with similar

processes of private industry, other Federal agencies, and other countries.

(2) Conduct a comprehensive assessment of the efficacy and efficiency of all phases and

aspects of the planning, programming, budgeting, and execution process, which shall include

an assessment of--

(A) the roles of Department officials and the timelines to complete each such phase or

aspect;

Commission on PPBE Reform public website. https://ppbereform.senate.gov/

Commission on PPBE Reform Commissioners’ biographies. https://ppbereform.senate.gov/commissioners/

Implementation Plan for the Recommendations from the Commission on PPBE Reform’s Interim Report Page 29

(B) the structure of the budget of Department of Defense, including the effectiveness of

categorizing the budget by program, appropriations account, major force program,

budget activity, and line item, and whether this structure supports modern warfighting

requirements for speed, agility, iterative development, testing, and fielding;

and transitioning technologies to production;

(D) the timelines, mechanisms, and systems for presenting and justifying the budget of

Department of Defense, monitoring program execution and Department of Defense

budget execution, and developing requirements and performance metrics;

(E) a review of the financial management systems of the Department of Defense,

including policies, procedures, past and planned investments, and recommendations

related to replacing, modifying, and improving such systems to ensure that such systems

and related processes of the Department result in--

(i) effective internal controls;

(ii) the ability to achieve auditable financial statements; and

(iii) the ability to meet other financial management and operational needs; and

(F) a review of budgeting methodologies and strategies of near-peer competitors to

understand if and how such competitors can address current and future threats more or

less successfully than the United States.

(3) Develop and propose recommendations to improve the effectiveness of the planning,

programming, budgeting, and execution process.

Congressionally mandated reports. The Commission released a Status Update in March 2023.

The Commission is congressionally mandated to release an Interim Report, which was released

on August 15, 2023, and a Final Report, which is expected in March 2024.

Commission termination. The Commission will terminate 180 days after the date on which it

submits the Final Report.