Tales of Defense Acquisition: Lessons from "Prime Time" David Packard's Fight on Capitol Hill for Disruptive Tech in Sept 1971
Nobody bats a thousand. Not in baseball. Not in any profession or walk of life. But you don’t need to bat a thousand to make a difference. And you don’t need to bat a thousand to help change the tides
Lt Col Brian Fredrickson is a Program Manager in the U.S. Space Force and is currently stationed in Japan.
Below is Deputy Secretary of Defense David Packard’s “Baseball Style” Box Score at the FY1972 Advanced Prototype Initiatives (as scored in Dec 1971).
COMBINED BOX SCORE
AB R H BB RBI HR AVG
24 0 4 0 0 0 .167
The Hearings:
Advanced Prototype Initiatives, Hearing Before the Committee on Armed Services, United States Senate, 92nd Congress, 1st sess., Congressional Record. US Government Printing Office. Washington, DC, 6 September 1971.
House. Department of Defense Appropriations for 1972. Hearings Before a Subcommittee of the Committee on Appropriations. 92nd Congress. 1st sess., 1971.
Funding Requested by DEPSECDEF Packard (Sep 6th, 1971): $63.5 million in FY1972
Funding Approved (Dec 14th, 1971): $12 million in FY1972
FULL BOX SCORE (as of December 14th, 1971)
Imagine a disruptive tech billionaire co-founder serving in the second highest position in the US Department of Defense. It happened 1969-1971, when Hewlett-Packard co-founder David Packard left Silicon Valley for the Pentagon. He served for nearly three years as Deputy Secretary of Defense (DEPSECDEF), during the height of the Vietnam War and as the US squared off against the Soviet Union during the Cold War.
In his culminating and final months as DEPSECDEF, then 60-year-old Packard took his Advanced Prototype Initiatives to the Senate and Congress at the peak of his tenure to weigh in on the FY1972-FY1974 Defense Budget.
During the testimonies, he provided a platform for disruptive voices and controversial proposals across the Air Force, Navy, and Army that did not garner funding support or prioritization within their respective services. Packard believed in the disruptive proposals based on his experience as a technologist and entrepreneur.
Packard asked for what was unthinkable for the Army in 1971—unmanned aerial scouts, remotely controlled attack missiles, air defense integrating Forward Looking Infrared (FLIR) technologies, and a helicopter-borne multi mission missile (M3).
Packard saw opportunities for the Navy to leverage the miniaturization and advance in electronics to enhance their Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) capabilities and enable modular lightweight missile launchers on their ships.
Packard backed disrupters within the Air Force who sought to break the status quo in the equation of air superiority. Col Boyd famously proposed a controversial Light Weight Fighter (LWF) program to explore high maneuverability and performance, integrated aerodynamic design concepts, high thrust to weight ratios, and fly-by-wire technologies – what later became the F-16 and F/A-18 platforms.
To increase the Air Force’s tactical mobility capabilities, Packard nominated the Advanced Medium Short Takeoff & Landing (STOL) Transport (AMST) proposal. AMST sought the capability to operate aircraft out of austere landing strips utilizing underpinning technologies such as powered lift via blown flaps or vectored lift to achieve both low-speed stability & control and high-speed cruise. This later became the C-17.
The testimony never looked promising.
During questioning, Senator Thomas J. McIntyre (New Hampshire): “I am a little concerned with all of the 10,000 projects you already have, you ask the services to go back and dream up 12 or 15 more. Why do you have to go out and find these new deals…?”
Packard’s take on the Testimonies: “Congress wanted us to take the money for the prototype program out of the overall budget they had already approved. I resisted because of the substantial cuts each service had already taken.”
The dust on initial outcomes wouldn’t settle for several months. The impact to our warfighting capabilities wouldn’t be understood for several decades.
Would any of the advanced prototypes be funded? That was the question in September 1971.
Between September 6th and November 23rd, the $63.5 million in FY72 requested was reduced to $34 million by the Senate-House Conference Committee and then eliminated by the Senate Appropriations Committee.
If the proposals weren’t supported by Top Brass within the Services, why would Congress and the Senate support funding?
On December 14th, 1971, the FY1972 Appropriations Bill was released. Of the $63.5 million Packard originally requested for 12 prototyping competitions (meaning 24 opportunities for industry to compete), the bill allocated $12 million for two of the programs: The Light Weight Fighter (LWF) and the Advanced Medium Short Take-off & Landing (STOL) Transport (AMST).
The mighty David Packard batted a humbling 0.167, with only two of his twelve proposals passing muster.
What does history in hindsight say? Since the testimony over half a century ago, over 4,600 F-16s have been built and operated by more than 25 Air Forces around the world; over 1,400 F/A-18 and variants have been built; and currently 275 C-17s have been built and operated around the world. The F-16, F/A-18, and C-17 have arguably represented the backbone of fourth generation airpower for the US and our Allies & Partners.
As Robert Coram, the author of Boyd points out: “first there was Packard’s decision to start a prototype program. Without Packard’s decision, the LWF would have been stillborn.”
Unfortunately, Packard didn’t have the benefit of 20/20 hindsight of those of us living in 2024.
Packard submitted his letter of resignation, on December 10th, 1971, several days before the outcome of his testimonies was announced and well before this box score could be scored.
On his experience in the Pentagon, Packard wrote: “Things have not been easy here in Defense during these three years, but when I came out here in 1969, no one promised me a bed of roses. Yet I believe we have made substantial progress in many areas – not as much as I hoped we might make.”
After returning to Palo Alto, Packard turned down President Nixon’s appeal for him to serve as Secretary of Defense in 1973. It would not be the last time the White House would ask Packard to help the DOD. President Ronald Reagan would call upon Packard to lead the Packard Commission in the 1980s.
Looking back, what can we learn from Packard’s hearings on Advanced Prototype Initiatives?
The US commercial industrial base is the bedrock of US national security. Inherent in Packard’s twelve (12) Advanced Prototype Initiatives were opportunities to compete for twenty-four (24) contracts. In its full form, the initiatives would have resulted in 24 opportunities for companies to design, build, and compete prototypes against each other. To avoid vendor lock -- “Fly Before You Buy,” as Packard always said.
Exceptional people exist and shape history. Packard played an imperative role in securing funding to support developmental efforts that led to the F-16, F/A-18, and C-17. These platforms have delivered our Nation and our Allies formidable capabilities and technological advantage, at a critical juncture of the Cold War and well into the modern era. Air Power!
In a world of uncertainty, optionality reigns supreme. As DEPSECDEF, Packard was a visionary and had the courage to stand by unpopular proposals because he believed some of his bets were likely to pay off. A half century ago, he advocated for prototyping unknown technologies and weapon systems that we now view as the norm.
This blog is essentially an excerpt, full paper here:
https://www.airuniversity.af.edu/Portals/10/AUPress/Papers/WF_74_Fredrickson_The_Laird_Packard_Way_Unpacking_Defense_Acquisition_Policy.pdf
Looking back, what can we learn from Packard’s hearings on Advanced Prototype Initiatives?
The US commercial industrial base is the bedrock of US national security. Inherent in Packard’s twelve (12) Advanced Prototype Initiatives were opportunities to compete for twenty-four (24) contracts. In its full form, the initiatives would have resulted in 24 opportunities for companies to design, build, and compete prototypes against each other. To avoid vendor lock -- “Fly Before You Buy,” as Packard always said.
Exceptional people exist and shape history. Packard played an imperative role in securing funding to support developmental efforts that led to the F-16, F/A-18, and C-17. These platforms have delivered our Nation and our Allies formidable capabilities and technological advantage, at a critical juncture of the Cold War and well into the modern era. Air Power!
In a world of uncertainty, optionality reigns supreme. As DEPSECDEF, Packard was a visionary and had the courage to stand by unpopular proposals because he believed some of his bets were likely to pay off. A half century ago, he advocated for prototyping unknown technologies and weapon systems that we now view as the norm.