Book excerpt: The Coast Guard (CG) is in the midst of the largest acquisition program in its history -- one that has experienced serious mgmt. and performance problems. The Deepwater program is intended to replace or modernize the CG¿s fleet of vessels, aircraft, and info. mgmt. capabilities. To carry out this acquisition, the CG contracted with a system integrator, Integrated CG Systems (ICGS). This report determines: how decisions are made regarding whether to purchase assets under the contract with ICGS or directly with another vendor; the costs and performance trade-offs, if any, assoc. with the CG¿s acquisition strategy for the Fast Response Cutter; and cost, schedule, and performance issues assoc. with changes to the Nat. Security Cutter. Illus.