My office in OSD (DOT&E)has one GS-15 Action Officer for oversight of F-35 testing. He probably has three or four IDA (FFRDC) contractor supporters full or part-time. We have continuing “issues” with the F-35 program regarding deficiencies discovered in tests. The PEO/PMO attitude seems to be to outgun the enemy—us. What effect this overstaffing has on the continuous cost increases of the F-35 program I don’t know. But I do know that manufacturer and vendor manhours come at a fully burdened cost, while our relatively few hours are dollar-for-dollar in taxpayer money. That is, the taxpayer spends a dollar and gets a dollar’s worth of work.
TC