Book excerpt: It is certainly my pleasure to address you in this inaugural issue of the Defense Acquisition University (DAU) journal "Acquisition Review Quarterly" (ARQ). Before discussing our acquisition reform efforts to date, I would like to explain the approach I hope to take, under the direction of the Secretary, Deputy Secretary, and Under Secretary, to reengineer the acquisition system. My office, the focal point for development and implementation of a coherent and practical step-by-step plan for reengineering every segment of the acquisition system is purposefully being kept small. I am chairing an Acquisition Reform Senior Steering Group composed of representatives from appropriate organizations within DoD. The Steering Group recommends change, coordinates proposed actions within their organizations, identifies participants for process action teams (PATs), and ensures implementation within their organizations. However, the majority of my efforts and that of my office will be in leading and assisting integrated decision teams or PATs, which I believe are the key to successful acquisition reform. The PATs will be cross-functional, cross-service, and cross-agency, and will be responsible for analyzing a current practice; identifying the costs (money, time, personnel) associated with that practice; identifying the alternative approaches consistent with the principles of the new acquisition system; identifying incentives to make changes to the new practice; recommending the best option for addressing the issue; developing any new legislative, regulatory, or administrative changes required to implement proposed options; developing measures of success in making the changes so DoD can track progress; developing specific implementation plans, including training of DoD personnel; and developing a process for follow-up to ensure that the changes have been institutionalized.