His ability to tame troubling programs came to light in 1996, when he became project manager of the CONUS Freight Management program (now known as Global Freight Management). He then faced down the Transportation Coordinators’ Automated Information for Movement System II, a joint system for planning and tracking the deployment of people and equipment. TC-AIMS II was behind schedule, over budget and near collapse. Haynes wrestled it back on track—though he’ll point to the work of his team rather than take all the credit himself.

Fast-forward a few years: Just weeks after becoming manager of the Army’s Standard Procurement System, Haynes found himself in a hearing room on Capitol Hill explaining to lawmakers how he would clean up the SPS requirements process, test the new system and improve user satisfaction with the automated contracting system, which standardizes procurement processes across DOD.

Today, both SPS and TC-AIMS II are in wide use and provide needed services to troops deployed in Iraq.

In his current job at the Defense Contract Management Agency, Haynes runs software acquisitions. The DCMA job, which Haynes stepped into less than a year ago, is his first as a civilian. He retired last year from military service.

“Going into a burning building to fight a fire is much different than preventing a fire. The program management skill set that you use is different. I can be much more proactive versus reactive in a stable environment.”

Haynes says he’s hung up his fireman’s hose and that DCMA is no burning building. But should the alarms go off for any DCMA software buys, the agency’s chiefs know they’ve got an able firefighter at the ready. Haynes talks with Defense Systems editor Dawn S. Onley about his new challenges and software initiatives at DCMA.

DEFENSE SYSTEMS: Tell me a little bit about DCMA and your mission at the agency.
HAYNES: First, DCMA makes sure systems, supplies and services are delivered on time and that they meet Defense performance requirements.

This year DCMA is managing more than 300,000 prime contracts valued at $850 billion. We have a presence all over the continental United States, Canada, the Middle East, Japan and Europe.

I work in DCMA’s IT Customer Service Organization. Our mission is to develop and sustain state-of-the-art IT infrastructure, which includes information assurance, security, software development and maintenance, paperless contracts, infrastructure and architecture products and field service support. We enable DCMA to manage its objectives for contract management.

I’m director of software acquisition and am responsible for managing all software development, all commercial, off-the-shelf purchases and to ensure that all software meets the users’ stated requirements and that it works within the infrastructure or enterprise architecture.

DEFENSE SYSTEMS: You spent several years fixing the department’s Standard Procurement System, and before that, Transportation Coordinators’ Automated Informa­tion for Movement System II. How have those experiences helped you in your new job?
HAYNES: I think the principles of software development are the same everywhere you go—or at least they should be. What I learned from SPS was the same thing I learned from TC-AIMS II and the previous programs that I had managed: You have to instill software discipline, understand the mechanics of testing and the importance of requirements, and understand the challenges of change management. To meet users’ expectations, you must assist them in making sure that their objectives are realized through IT development.

DEFENSE SYSTEMS: How does a person who is used to putting out fires adjust to a job where there are really no crises— no congressional scrutiny, no high-ranking department scrutiny, no budget or schedule overlays?
HAYNES: I had pigeonholed myself as a fireman, but it’s an incredible personal investment in time to try and turn a program around. Going into a burning building to fight a fire is much different than preventing a fire. The program management skill set that you use is different. I can be much more proactive versus reactive in a stable environment.

Do I miss it? Of course I do. But I realize if you continue going into burning buildings, your chances of getting out start to diminish.

DEFENSE SYSTEMS: A recurring discussion at Defense conferences is that acquisition processes are ineffective and that it can takes years to get products into warfighters’ hands. How does DCMA ensure that the products it develops and buys are still relevant when deployed?
HAYNES: This has been an ongoing problem since I came into the acquisition corps years ago. But we’ve seen some acquisition reform that’s enabling program managers to move a little bit faster to get from requirements to the foxhole. Within DCMA, we work closely with our requirements personnel. We have an e- business group that’s part of the CIO’s group to ensure that requirements are shaken out and that products meet the users’ intent. When we start developing, we find that we don’t have the same problems that a lot of software developers have. We’re somewhat different from the mass software population.

We’re able to work through those problems a lot better. I believe the key to software development is requirements definitions, requirements definitions and then requirements definitions. When you have that dialogue to make sure everyone’s on the same sheet of music and not talking different shades of pink, things go so much smoother.

To read more of the interview with Jacob Haynes, go to www.defensesystems.com and enter 109 in the Quickfind search box.

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