Reforming Defense Budgeting: The PPBE Process

In the first of a special two-part series, From the Crows’ Nest host Ken Miller speaks with researchers Jeff Kojac and Olivia Letts from George Mason University Costello School of Business and its Baroni Center for Government Contracting to learn more about the Department of Defense’s PPBE (Planning, Programming, Budgeting, Execution) process and why their research finds the department’s decision-making processes is in need of major change.

The PPBE process is a complicated process dating back decades.  Kojac and Letts walk through their research that was part of the work and final report of the Commission on PPBE Reform completed earlier this year. Letts says that PPPE affects everyone in the defense industrial base and many DOD entities have a very large stake in it. Yet few are experts on the process that Letts and Kojac describe as one that creates a moat for people actually understanding it and being able to function with it.

Adding to this complexity is that Kojac says the PPBE process is highly dependent on Congress… and that understanding a highly divided Congress is key to understanding what is being debated in the PPBE.

Part II of this interview will be released on December 18.To learn more about today’s topics or to stay updated on EMSO and EW developments, visit our homepage.