SECRETARY OF THE ARMY WASHINGTON
19 DEC 2024

MEMORANDUM FOR SEE DISTRIBUTION

SUBJECT: Army Directive 2024-02 (Enabling Modern Software Development and Acquisition Practices)

1. References. For references, see enclosure 1.

2. Purpose.

a. Software is essential to modern military operations. It is a key component in the Army's weapons, business, and training systems and is embedded into the enterprise processes that make the Department function. These systems enable the Army to detect and track adversaries, protect operations from cyber threats, and improve the accuracy and effectiveness of decisions and actions. Software drives improved outcomes and effectiveness in our missions and operations. Consequently, the Army's ability to rapidly develop, deliver, and adapt resilient software is critical to ensuring a competitive advantage over adversaries. To ensure this advantage, this directive institutionalizes modern software development and acquisition practices across the Army, consistent with industry best practices. For the purposes of this policy, modern practices include, but are not limited to, continuous integration/continuous delivery (CI/CD), agile, lean, and development, security, and operations (DevSecOps).

b. A key to implementing agile software development is in the reform of institutional processes that underpin the software lifecycle, which have historically originated to develop, manufacture, and field hardware-based capabilities. This includes processes related to requirements, acquisition, contracting, test and evaluation, cybersecurity, cost estimation, data management, sustainment, and talent management. This directive aims to revise and reform these institutional processes to facilitate the Army's digital transformation to deliver needed capabilities to Soldiers.

c. The Army and Department of Defense have historically faced challenges in adequately planning for and mitigating cost and technical risks associated with true software development – especially where software is built from scratch, highly customized or significantly changed to accommodate Army processes. This directive establishes approaches to improve planning, management, and mitigation of these risks in software development. In accordance with Title 10, United States Code, section 3453, the Army prioritizes commercial software solutions to the maximum extent practicable. Consistent with existing law, the Army will only pursue customized or custom software solutions after appropriate market research finds that a commercial solution does not satisfy the requirement.

SUBJECT: Army Directive 2024-02 (Enabling Modern Software Development and Acquisition Practices) (e) When operational users are required, the CG, U.S. Army Forces Command (FORSCOMFORSCOMU. S. Army Forces Command) will seek to meet this need without impacting other requirements. Existing Army enterprise sourcing approaches, such as the Army's Regionally Aligned Readiness and Modernization Model and the Army Synchronization and Resourcing Conference, will be used. (3) Initiative Leads. (a) Weapons systems—CG, AFCAFCArea frequency coordinator. (b) Defense Business Systems—Director, OEM and the CIOCIOChief information officer. (c) Systems in the Enterprise Information Environment Mission Area—CIOCIOChief information officer and DCSDCSDeputy Chief of Staff, G–3/5/7, G-6. (d) Support will be provided by the ASA (ALT)ASA (ALT)Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology; DCSDCSDeputy Chief of Staff, G–3/5/7, G-3/5/7; CG, FORSCOMFORSCOMU. S. Army Forces Command; and all ACOMs, ASCCs, and DRUs. (4) Timeline. Leads will implement a process for this approach no later than four months from the date of this directive. c. Initiative 3—Tailor Processes to Enable Agile Development. (1) Background. A key tenet of successful software development is the ability to quickly adapt software solutions to respond to emerging threats, opportunities, and needs. Some acquisition and contracting approaches, however, do not inherently provide the flexibility required by modern software development. The Army must employ approaches that provide the agility and flexibility to rapidly develop and deploy a software solution that can continuously evolve to meet user needs. (2) Policy. (a) Acquisition strategies for software-intensive acquisition programs will enable modern software development approaches. These programs will use the Software Acquisition Pathway as the single pathway or in conjunction with other acquisition pathways to the maximum extent practical. This pathway was designed to enable rapid and iterative delivery of software capability. Programs executing on the Defense Business System pathway should consider leveraging the newly established DBS sub-path within the Software Acquisition Pathway. (b) Contracting strategies for software development efforts will be flexible and provide the ability to quickly adapt to changes in the software development strategy. This may include employing a multiple-award contract or a modular contracting 5