A recent review of the Army’s acquisition process found that the service branch did not put to good use more than $1 billion a year between the years of 1996 and 2004, and more than $3 billion a year between 2004 and 2009, on significant programs which were eventually cancelled. 

The 2010 report blamed the “erosion of the core competencies of the personnel responsible for the development of requirements and the acquisition of systems and services” for the broken Army acquisition process.  The review was carried out by retired 4-star general Louis Wagner, who served as commander of the Army Materiel Command from 1987 to 1989, and by an outside group headed by Gilbert Decker. Decker served as the assistant secretary of the Army for research, development and acquisition from 1994 to 1997.

In response to the recommendations of the Decker-Wagner review, the Army states that it intends to recruit around 2,000 acquisition workforce personnel by the year 2015.