Key policy and strategy documents that underpin ALIGN™ and Department of War Acquisition Reform.
The ALIGN™ Transformation Framework is deliberately built on the same policy and strategy stack that is reshaping U.S. defense acquisition — from the Department of the Navy’s digital and portfolio guidance to the Department of War’s Warfighting Acquisition System (WAS) and Acquisition Transformation Strategy.
The documents below are listed in chronological order of public release to show how the reform story has been building over time. Each description explains why the document matters and how it connects to portfolio-based acquisition, data-centric operations, AI, and industrial-base resilience.
Why it matters: This memo introduces Investment Horizons as a structured way
to visualize and manage capabilities from Horizon 3 (emerging) through Horizon 0 (divesting). It is a
backbone for portfolio-based decisions, divestment of legacy IT, and reinvestment in modern,
mission-aligned capabilities. This is exactly the kind of disciplined portfolio management the
Warfighting Acquisition System (WAS) now expects from Portfolio Acquisition Executives (PAEs)
and their teams.
File name: DONCTOMemoINVESTMENTHORIZONSCHARTS03Apr20241.pdf
Date: 3 April 2024
Why it matters: Information Superiority Vision 2.0 sets the Department of the
Navy end-state of delivering the right information securely, from anywhere to anywhere, to support
warfighters at the speed of mission. It defines the Optimize, Secure, Decide pillars that
underpin modern service delivery and data-centric operations. ISV 2.0 aligns directly with WAS
priorities for resilient, data-driven warfighting and provides the digital context in which acquisition
portfolios must now operate.
File name: InformationSuperiorityVision2.0Signed.pdf
Date: 16 August 2024
Why it matters: America’s AI Action Plan establishes a national-level roadmap
for accelerating AI innovation, building AI infrastructure, and ensuring U.S. leadership in AI-enabled
defense and industry. It provides the strategic context for using AI to transform acquisition,
industrial-base analytics, and mission outcomes. The same AI-centric posture is reflected in the
Warfighting Acquisition System and the Acquisition Transformation Strategy, and is operationalized
at the portfolio level by frameworks like ALIGN™.
File name: Americas-AI-Action-Plan.pdf
Date: 23 July 2025
Why it matters: This memo defines Adaptive Roadmaps as a best practice for
portfolio planning and execution, tying together Investment Horizons, execution schedules, and
DOTMLPF-P campaign elements. It shows how to connect mission problems to funded solutions over time.
This is a direct precursor to how WAS expects PAEs and portfolio teams to steer capability portfolios,
manage risk, and synchronize modernization with warfighting needs.
File name: DONCIORoadmapsACDCFinalEDC.pdf
Date: 31 July 2025
Why it matters: The Innovation Adoption Kit (IAK) consolidates Investment Horizons,
Adaptive Roadmaps, Modern Service Delivery, and World-Class Alignment Metrics (WAMs) into a single
lifecycle for moving capabilities from tech scouting and pilots into scaled enterprise services —
and retiring obsolete ones. It provides a repeatable “from pilot to production” model for AI,
software, and digital capabilities that portfolios can adopt. ALIGN™ aligns directly with the IAK
to help leaders operationalize these patterns within their organizations.
File name: DON_CTO_IAK_v10.pdf
Date: 2025 (aligned to the IAK memo below)
Why it matters: This memo formally designates the IAK as the Department of the Navy’s
system-wide framework for evaluating, piloting, scaling, and divesting technologies. It codifies
structured approaches such as Investment Horizons, Structured Piloting, Structured Challenges,
Structured Divestment, and WAMs. The governance signals in this memo mirror the Department of War’s
expectations under WAS: use disciplined, portfolio-level methods to adopt innovation at speed,
with clear alignment to mission outcomes and risk management.
File name: DONCTOIAKMemo_v3_withsignature.pdf
Date: October 2025
Why it matters: This memo is the cornerstone directive that formally establishes the
Warfighting Acquisition System (WAS) and creates Portfolio Acquisition Executives (PAEs).
It shifts the Department of War from program-by-program oversight to portfolio-based accountability,
demanding faster delivery, flexible pathways (including OTAs and commercial solutions), and stronger
ties between acquisition decisions, warfighting timelines, and industrial-base health.
ALIGN™ is designed to help PAEs, program offices, and industry partners operate effectively within
this new construct.
File name: TRANSFORMING-THE-DEFENSE-ACQUISITION-SYSTEM.pdf
Date: 7 November 2025
Why it matters: The Acquisition Transformation Strategy translates the WAS memo
into a detailed, multi-pillar implementation roadmap for the Department of War. It covers rebuilding
the industrial base, empowering the acquisition workforce, increasing flexibility in tools and
pathways, delivering high-performance systems, and improving lifecycle risk management.
ALIGN™ is designed to plug into this strategy as a practical framework for PAEs, program offices,
and industry partners to execute portfolio-level roadmaps that meet WAS speed, rigor, and outcome
expectations.
File name: Acquisition Transformation Strategy.pdf
Date: 10 November 2025
These documents collectively define the new rules of the game for Federal and Defense acquisition: portfolio accountability, AI-enabled decision-making, digital modernization, and industrial-base health. ALIGN™ is intentionally engineered to sit on top of this policy stack and give leaders a practical way to:
To see how we operationalize these documents in real portfolios and programs, visit the ALIGN™ Transformation Framework page or schedule a strategy session with One Aligned℠.