Featured Article: Sharing Resources Between Government Agencies

Featured article:

Sharing Resources Between Government Agencies
by George K. Hughes

Despite the continuous increase in operational tempo across the U.S. government, there has not been a proportional increase of resources. In fact, the level of uncertainty over resource availability in most departments and agencies continues to grow while they are being tasked to accomplish more with less. One approach to dealing with this reality is to consider the capabilities and expertise that already reside within the U.S. government and to share those capabilities among departments. Sharing commonly needed resources, instead of spending money on the development of redundant capabilities or contracting for services, could save time and money and build a more experienced team. The purpose of this article is to provide examples of how U.S. government departments and agencies might utilize Department of Defense (DoD) organizations and equipment to ensure effective execution of assigned missions within a resource-constrained environment. This article will also highlight the different types of agreements used for coordinating the sharing of resources, discuss actions that can assist a request’s approval, and emphasize the benefits of resource-sharing from both the borrower and lender perspective. The first step, however, is to determine what DoD capabilities can support and enable the missions of other departments and agencies.

Each department of the U.S. government has unique duties, responsibilities, and missions; however, each also has requirements in common with other departments…

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Sharing Resources Between Government Agencies PDF

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IAJ 8-1 (Winter 2017) PDF

Lieutenant Colonel George K. (Kris) Hughes, U.S. Army, is an instructor at the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College campus at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, teaching force management and sustainment. He holds a BS in Secondary Education from The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina, a MS in Human Relations from The University of Oklahoma, and a MBA from Norwich University.