The Navy released a list of its top 30 companies or company divisions that have demonstrated superior work. Assembling this list is part of a pilot program to identify the contractors that deliver what they promise on time and at agreed cost, said Pentagon acquisition chief Frank Kendall during a press conference on June 13. All the services will soon follow suit with their own lists. Called the Superior Supplier Incentive program, the idea is to identify companies doing well on their government work, then discuss with them what the Pentagon forces them to do that adds no value to the contract. The idea is to eliminate non-value-added steps and deliver more profit to the companies, or stated differently, “align profitability with performance” and save the government money, said Kendall. It will also be important for those companies not on the list to figure out why, he said, and get busy improving their processes and performance. The Army and Air Force “will expand and adopt the same methodology … so a year from now, all the services will … publish the superior suppliers and identify those suppliers,” said Kendall. (See Navy release for list of suppliers.) (Kendall-Stackley transcript)
The last remaining T-1 Jayhawk at JBSA-Randolph, Texas, took its final flight to the "Boneyard" at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz., on July 15. The 99th Flying Training Squadron will train pilots using T-6 and simulator until it gets T-7 Red Hawk in fiscal 2026.