Naval War College Review Volume 65 Article 7 Number 4 Autumn 2012 Building the Purple Ford: An Affordable Approach to Jointness Robert P. Kozloski Follow this and additional works at: https://digital-commons.usnwc.edu/nwc-review Recommended Citation Kozloski, Robert P. (2012) "Building the Purple Ford: An Affordable Approach to Jointness," Naval War College Review: Vol. 65 : No. 4 , Article 7. Available at: https://digital-commons.usnwc.edu/nwc-review/vol65/iss4/7 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at U.S. Naval War College Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Naval War College Review by an authorized editor of U.S. Naval War College Digital Commons. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. Kozloski: Building the Purple Ford: An Affordable Approach to Jointness BUILDING THE PURPLE FORD An Affordable Approach to Jointness Robert P. Kozloski iven the enormity of the U.S. national debt and the pressure to reduce De- Gfense spending, surviving the forthcoming era of austerity will require inno- vative approaches to Department of Defense (DoD) organization and processes. Some of this innovation may require a reversal of previous efforts intended to improve effectiveness and efficiency within the DoD. Preserving operational capacity must be the top priority in any budget-reduction discussion. Unfortu- nately, the current approaches advocated within the Pentagon, on the Hill, and by influential Beltway think tanks call for reducing spending by trimming inef- ficient processes, eliminating end strength, and terminating costly acquisitions programs. The U.S. government should be hesitant to cut one plane, one ship, or one Marine until all options to reduce overhead and to streamline organizations have been fully considered.