U.S. Special Operations Command Using AI To Speed Up Acquisition Workflows

“NATIONAL DEFENSE MAGAZINE” – By Allyson Park

“Advanced algorithms like AI, machine learning and generative AI allows SOCOM to gather and analyze a large volume of data in a short amount of time – Acquisition as a “war-fighting function.”

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“U.S. Special Operations Command is leveraging artificial intelligence and autonomy to speed up acquisitions, service officials said May 6.

Embedding artificial intelligence into the service’s acquisition processes “can do a lot of different things; in fact, we’re getting ready to go pilot on the acquisition administrative side,” Melissa Johnson, acquisition executive at SOCOM, said in a keynote speech at the SOF Week conference. “How do I take in all the information that comes in for a potential contract award and use that information? … Getting more automation is allowing us to shorten that chain, and you get more accuracy.”

 Advanced algorithms like AI, machine learning and generative AI allows SOCOM to gather and analyze a large volume of data in a short amount of time, she said.

Johnson said acquisition is a “warfighting function.”

“I think it’s critical that we look at it [through] that lens, because if we don’t, and if we don’t have that sense of urgency, we won’t be able to get capabilities into the field,” she said.“Being able to have an acquisition pathway that’s matched up with what’s actually happening allows you to go faster, because it’s matched properly,” Johnson said. “I think a lot of times the tool set and the problem people are solving are mismatched, which drives confusion, and … it starts to cause delays.”

Understanding  acquisitions workflow is vitally important; without that understanding, it can be difficult to determine where AI and automation can be leveraged to reduce a human operator’s cognitive workload, said Col. Rhea Pritchett, program executive officer of Special Operations Forces Digital Applications.

“Some of the things that we’ve targeted, going back into the AI space, is looking at things like how to detect objects, how to do natural language processing, how to do that translation, again centering back on doing that sense making, as well as reducing the cognitive burden on our operators,” Pritchett said. “We start off a simple approach in terms of just understanding foundationally that we needed to have interoperability in order to then build upon that with automation as well as autonomy. That’s been our mantra, to allow us to continue to go fast in this space.”

Improving SOCOM’s acquisition processes is critical to delivering capability to warfighters, and both the government and industry must be willing to take risks, “so that the operators don’t have to take the operational risk,” Johnson said.“

If you’re afraid to use a tool just because you’ve never used it before, how are you going to know if you can go faster?” she said. “I’m very thankful that I have a team who will take that risk, knowing that may be able to provide the results we need. But if we don’t do it now, if we don’t look for the quickest way to get our contract to start executing, we will never be able to assess, reassess, fix, make the decision, so that we can deliver that capability [the warfighter] requires.”

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