DATE REVISED: 22 AUGUST 1996
APPENDIX C - JTA RELATIONSHIP TO DoDDOD STANDARDS REFORM
The DoD Standards Reform was begun in June 1994 when the Secretary of Defense issued his memorandum entitled "Specifications and Standards - A New Way of Doing Business." Secretary Perry directed that performance-based specifications and standards or nationally-recognized private sector standards be used in future acquisitions. He intends by this initiative to eliminate non-value added requirements, and thus to reduce the cost of weapon systems and materiel; remove impediments to getting commercial state-of-the-art technology into our weapon systems; and integrate the commercial and military industrial bases to the greatest extent possible. The Defense Standards Improvement Council (DSIC) directs implementation of the Reform. The DSIC has interpreted and extended the Reform policy through a series of numbered OSD policy memos. These policy memos and other DSIC decisions, newsletters and other standardization related information are posted on the Defense Standardization Program (DSP) Home Page at http://www.acq.osd.mil/es/std/.
The standards and specifications and other standardization documents identified in the Joint Technical Architecture (JTA) can be cited in solicitations without conflicting with the DoD Standards Reform. All JTA documents have been granted Department-wide exemption from the waiver requirement by the Defense Standards Improvement Council. Mandatory application of JTA standardization documents to acquisition solicitations is authorized. Contrary to interpretations that have been made in the recent past by some DoD organizations, the DoD Standards Reform is not eliminating military standards and specifications nor precluding their use. What the Reform is trying to eliminate is the automatic development and imposition of military unique standards and specifications as the cultural norm. The JTA calls out non-Government standards in every case where it makes sense and where it will lead to the use of commercial products and practices that meet the DoD's needs. The JTA only calls out Military and Federal standards and specifications in those instances where no non-Government standard exists that is cost effective and meets the requirement or where the use of the non-Government standard must be clarified to enable interoperability of DoD systems.
Policy Memo 95-1 establishes procedures for waivers for use of specifications and standards cited as requirements in solicitations. These waiver procedures apply to the types of documents that fall under the province of the Defense Standardization Program and are indexed in the DoD Index of Standards and Specifications (DoDISS). Specifically of relevance to the JTA, Policy Memo 95-1 states that non-Government standards, Interface Standards, Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS), and Performance Specifications do not require waivers. Also, Policy Memo 95-9 provides that international standardization agreements such as NATO STANAGs (and ACPs) do not require waivers. Federal Telecommunications Standards (FED-STDs) do not require a waiver when they qualify as interface standards. All of the above waiver-free document types encompass most of the documents cited in the JTA. The DSP Home Page provides lists of waiver-free documents and in the near future the DoDISS will indicate those documents that can be used without a waiver.
There are a small number of JTA documents that are not among the types of Government documents that are indexed in the DoDISS and are therefore not subject to the Reform waiver policy. Therefore, they also do not require a waiver to be cited in a solicitation. (An example of a JTA document of a type that is not indexed in the DoDISS is DoD 5200.28-STD.) However, the citation of these non-DoDISS documents in solicitations must comply with Service/Agency requirements for preparation and approval of performance-based program unique specifications. A system specification used to procure a C4I system or a weapon system is a program unique specification. Procedures for preparing performance specifications are provided in MIL-STD-961D, Change 1, 22 August 1995 and in the DSP Performance Specification Guide, SD-15, dated 29 June 1995. MIL-STD-961D defines a performance specification as follows: "A specification that states requirements in terms of the required results with criteria for verifying compliance, but without stating the methods for achieving the required results. A performance specification defines the functional requirements for the item, the environment in which it must operate, and interface and interchangeability characteristics." By this definition, documents that define "interface" characteristics can be properly cited in a performance specification. Therefore, JTA non-DoDISS documents that are used to define interface characteristics are not in conflict with service/agency requirements for preparation and approval of performance-based program unique specifications.
Most JTA documents qualify as Interface Standards. Policy Memo 95-6 defines the five types of DoD-prepared standards as: interface standards, standard practices, test method standards, manufacturing process standards, and design criteria standards. Policy Memo 95-1 states that of these types, interface standards and standard practices do not require a waiver when cited in a solicitation. MIL-STD-962C (a standard practice) provides definitions, format, and content direction for military standards. It defines an interface standard as follows: "A standard that specifies the physical, functional, or military operational environment interface characteristics of systems, subsystems, equipment, assemblies, components, items or parts to permit interchangeability, interconnection, interoperability, compatibility, or communications." The use of military and Federal interface standards in solicitations is fully compliant with the DoD Standards Reform.
One of DoD's key acquisition reform goals is to reduce acquisition costs and remove impediments to commercial-military integration by emulating commercial buying practices wherever possible. Thus, for any processes, practices, or methods that are described by a non-Government standard used by Commercial firms and which meet DoD's needs, DoD activities should also be using a non-Government standard instead of applying, developing, or revising a military or Federal Standard. The standards selected for the JTA are predominately non-Government standards. Military or Federal standards have been selected for the JTA only in those instances where non-Government standards failed to satisfy the DoD needs. In most of those instances, in fact, the military or Federal standard is a profile of one or more non-Government standards. The military or Federal profile identifies the chosen classes, subsets, options, and parameters of one or more base standards necessary for achieving interoperability (or other function). In some instances, the profile specifies unique interface requirements not satisfied by the non-Government standard. Therefore the JTA complies fully with this key acquisition reform goal.