DoD Returns Oversight of Selected Air Force Programs
January 20, 2006

The Department of Defense announced today the return of milestone decision authority to the Department of the Air Force for ten major programs. These programs had been temporarily redesignated under the authority of under secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics in March 2005 at a time when Air Force leadership was in transition.

These ten programs are once again ACAT 1C, which means they are approved at the service acquisition executive level. Their temporary designation of ACAT 1D programs meant that program decisions were approved at the USD(AT&L;) level. Milestone Decision Authority for these ten major defense acquisition programs now falls under to the Secretary of the Air Force Michael Wynne.

The department’s review and approval process for large weapons systems is documented in DoD Directive 5000.1 and DoD Instruction 5000.2.