{"id":19800,"date":"2020-11-26T17:42:08","date_gmt":"2020-11-26T15:42:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pmdoc.ua\/pentagon-wars\/"},"modified":"2025-12-19T09:03:22","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T07:03:22","slug":"pentagon-wars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pmdoc.ua\/en\/pentagon-wars\/","title":{"rendered":"The Pentagon Wars"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Pentagon Wars<\/em><\/strong> is a 1998 American comedy film that offers one of the best cinematic illustrations of mismanaging requirements, change, stakeholders, and program quality.<\/p>\n

The film chronicles the development of the M2 Bradley Fighting Vehicle and serves as a powerful visual lesson in how not<\/em> to manage a program<\/strong>. From the outset, the program lacked a clear deadline, and the goal was to create a “perfect” product\u2014an ambition that led to continuous changes and ballooning costs, eventually reaching tens of billions of dollars.<\/p>\n

For more background, you can read the detailed Wikipedia article<\/a> on the Bradley’s development. The film is based on the book The Pentagon Wars: Reformers Challenge the Old Guard<\/em> by retired U.S. Air Force Colonel James G. Burton.<\/p>\n

So, the Plot of Program Management<\/h2>\n

The Pentagon Wars<\/em> centers around Colonel Burton, an officer assigned to test the Bradley Fighting Vehicle under real combat conditions. However, despite his persistent efforts to conduct authentic field tests, the test scenarios are continuously rewritten to ensure the vehicle passes with minimal damage\u2014sound familiar<\/strong>?<\/p>\n

At every step, Colonel Burton’s attempts are sabotaged by Major General Partridge and other senior officers. To push for transparency and integrity, Burton is forced to navigate a complex web of stakeholder management, often dealing with conflicting interests. Yet, he adheres strictly to the program’s charter and military chain of command (well, mostly\u2014he\u2019s still a soldier, after all).<\/p>\n

After intense congressional hearings, an honest and transparent test is finally conducted, revealing shocking and eye-opening results<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

At the beginning of the film, we\u2019re shown the history behind the Bradley program. The vehicle was the brainchild of multiple generations of officers acting under directives from high-level military leadership. The entire chain of requirements management, design evolution, and program changes is depicted\u2014more accurately, what we see is a masterclass in “UNmanagement.”<\/em><\/p>\n

Short Program Overview<\/h2>\n

Objective<\/h3>\n

The initial objectives of the Bradley Program were to develop a light troop carrier vehicle. This vehicle was intended to be agile and capable of transporting soldiers efficiently. Over time, however, the objectives shifted due to continuous design changes, resulting in a vehicle that became more tank-like and could carry only half of its original intended capacity.<\/p>\n

Scope<\/h3>\n

The scope of the Bradley Program initially involved the development of a light troop carrier vehicle. This scope included designing a vehicle that was agile and capable of transporting soldiers effectively. However, the scope evolved over time due to numerous design changes, which altered the vehicle’s characteristics significantly.<\/p>\n

Risks and Issues<\/h3>\n

The Bradley Program faced several risks and issues, including:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Scope Creep<\/strong>: The program experienced continuous changes to the vehicle’s design, leading to a significant deviation from its initial objective of developing a light troop carrier.<\/li>\n
  2. Cost Overruns<\/strong>: The protracted development period resulted in escalating costs, reaching $14 billion.<\/li>\n
  3. Stakeholder Misalignment<\/strong>: There was a lack of alignment among stakeholders, with higher-ups imposing design changes that conflicted with the original objectives.<\/li>\n
  4. Manipulated Testing<\/strong>: Test results were manipulated to show favorable outcomes, which posed a risk to the integrity and safety of the final product.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Stakeholders<\/h3>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
    Name<\/th>\nRole<\/th>\nDescription<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
    Major General Partridge<\/td>\nProgram Manager<\/td>\nResponsible for overseeing the Bradley Fighting Vehicle project, often manipulating tests to show favorable outcomes.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    Lieutenant Colonel James G. Burton<\/td>\nSupervisor<\/td>\nAppointed by Congress to oversee the Bradley’s field development and tests, advocating for honest and accurate testing.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    Colonel Robert L. Smith<\/td>\nInitial Design Supervisor<\/td>\nOriginally supervised the design of the Bradley, frustrated by the continuous changes imposed by higher-ups.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    Colonel J.D. Bock<\/td>\nPartridge’s Associate<\/td>\nAssisted in manipulating test results to meet desired outcomes.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    Major William Sayers<\/td>\nPartridge’s Associate<\/td>\nCollaborated in manipulating test results alongside Colonel Bock.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    Sergeant Benjamin Dalton<\/td>\nTest Supervisor<\/td>\nInitially ordered to manipulate test results but ultimately swayed by Burton’s integrity to conduct honest testing.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    Caspar Weinberger<\/td>\nDefense Secretary<\/td>\nDemanded a full written report on the Bradley after being informed of discrepancies in its development and testing.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    Madam Chairwoman<\/td>\nCommittee Chairwoman<\/td>\nOrdered the tests Burton demanded after the House Armed Services Committee hearing, ensuring the integrity of the Bradley’s testing process.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

    Lessons Learned<\/h2>\n

    If you’re looking for real-world lessons in the mismanagement of requirements, change control, and program quality\u2014as well as a masterclass in stakeholder management and navigating program documentation\u2014this film is a must-watch in your spare time.<\/p>\n\n\n

    <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    The Pentagon Wars is a 1998 American comedy film that offers one of the best cinematic illustrations of mismanaging requirements, change, stakeholders, and program quality. The film chronicles the development of the M2 Bradley Fighting Vehicle and serves as a powerful visual lesson in how not to manage a program. From the outset, the program […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9673,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[361],"tags":[743],"class_list":["post-19800","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-video","tag-cinemahall"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pmdoc.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19800","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pmdoc.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pmdoc.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pmdoc.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pmdoc.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19800"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/pmdoc.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19800\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19809,"href":"https:\/\/pmdoc.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19800\/revisions\/19809"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pmdoc.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9673"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pmdoc.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19800"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pmdoc.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19800"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pmdoc.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19800"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}