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From: Paige, Emmett Jr., , OSD/C3I +
To: Jones, Anita, Dr, OUSD/AT 001; Kaminski, Paul, Mr, OUSD/AT001;
Longuemare, Noel, Mr, OUSD/001
Cc: Brown, Linda, , OSD/C3I; Rand, Cynthia, , OSD/C3I +; Soos, James,
Dr., OSD/C3I +; Dempsey, Joan, CIV, OSD/C3I +; Castor, Virginia,
Ms,OUSD/AT; 'Decker Gil,ASSTSEC. ARMY RDA'; 'Douglass John,ASST.
SECNAV'; Edmonds, Albert LtGen; Gauss John A. RADM. JIEO DISA; Hamilton
John, LTC; 'Kelley David MG DISA'; 'Money Art., ASST.SECAF. RDA'
Subject: "ADA and BEYOND"
Date: Thursday, February 27, 1997 10:03AM
AS YOU KNOW WE HAD THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES,NATIONAL RESEARCH
COUNCIL COMPUTER SCIENCE AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS BOARD PERFORM A STUDY OF
OUR SOFTWARE POLICIES FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE.
HOPEFULLY YOU HAVE BEEN BRIEFED ON THE RESULTS OF THAT STUDY AND
POSSIBLY READ AND REREAD THE PUBLISHED REPORT AS I HAVE.
THE STUDY IS A GOOD ONE AND I AM PREPARED TO ACCEPT AND IMPLEMENT ALL OF
THEIR RECOMMENDATIONS WITH ONE EXCEPTION.
I BELIEVE DOD SHOULD NO LONGER REQUIRE ADA FOR ANY OF ITS SYSTEMS BUT
CONTINUE TO SUPPORT IT AS THE PREFERRED LANGUAGE,PARTCULARLY FOR OUR
WEAPON SYSTEMS AND C4ISR SYSTEMS. BY DOING THIS WE WILL TAKE THE LONE
CONTENTIOUS POINT OF RESENTMENT OUT OF THE DOD SOFTWARE PROCESS , BUT
WITH THE OTHER RECOMMENDATIONS SUCH AS THE REQUIREMENT FOR A SOFTWARE
ENGINEERING PLAN, I BELIEVE WE WILL GET THE DESIRED RESULTS WITHOUT
MANDATING ANY PARTICULAR PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE.
I WILL HAVE THE STAFF BEGIN THE ACTION TO PREPARE THE PROPOSED DOD
SOFTWARE POLICY AS REFLECTED IN APPENDIX A, WHICH BEGINS ON PAGE 75 OF
THE STUDY REPORT, AND AMEND IT AS STATED ABOVE TO REMOVE THEIR PROPOSED
MANDATE FOR WARFIGHTING SYSTEMS.
WE WILL PREPARE THE POLICY DIRECTIVE FOR SIGNATURE BY BOTH DR KAMINSKI
AND ME. WILL GET THIS ONE ON A FAST TRACK.
WOULD APPRECISATE ANY COMMENTS OR REACTIONS FROM THIS PROPOSAL FROM ANY
ADDRESSEES.
Date: Mon, 3 Mar 1997 07:49:00 -0500 From: "Paige, Emmett Jr., , OSD/C3I +"To: "Rush Kester; Senior Software Engineer" Subject: RE: Sincere thanks for speaking at 2/26th joint ACM meeting --------- From: Rush Kester; Senior Software Engineer To: Paige, Emmett Jr., , OSD/C3I +; Rayford Vaughn; Drew Hamilton; hamilt2d@ncr.disa.mil Cc: dcsigada-exec Subject: Sincere thanks for speaking at 2/26th joint ACM meeting Date: Friday, February 28, 1997 12:20PM THANKS. IT HELPED ME DECIDE WHAT I SHOULD DO. ANNOUNCED MY DECISION THE NEXT MORNING. NO ADA MANDATE FOR ANY SYSTEMS ANY LONGER. WILL PROVIDE THE SUSTAINING SUPPORT AS RECOMMENDED BY THE NRC. WILL EXPECT THE SOFTWARE ENGINEERING PLAN AND THE PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE THATS BEST FOR THE APPLICATION TO WIN. HOPE ADA95 WILL INDEED PROVE TO BE THE BEST FOR MOST APPLICATIONS.. GOOD LUCK.
From: "Paige, Emmett Jr., , OSD/C3I +"To: LTC Drew Hamilton Subject: Re: FW: Reason for Mr. Paige's Decision Unclear Date: Mon, 10 Mar 1997 18:10:00 -0500 THANK GOD , THIS IS AMERICA. THE BUCK STOPS HERE . I HAVE TRIED EVERY ROUTE ONE COULD POSSIBLY HAVE TO HAVE FOLKS RUN WITH ADA SINCE 1979 WHEN I FIRST GOT INVOLVED. THE MANDATES HAVE NOT WORKED FOR WEAPON SYSTEMS,C3I SYSTEMS OR OUR BUSINESS SYSTEMS. IT HAS ONLY WORKED WHERE I PERSONALLY DECIDED TO FORCE THE ACTION SUCH AS WITH STANFINS-REDESIGN AND SIDPERS III AS FAR AS MAJOR SYSTEMS I WAS ASSOCIATED WITH ARE CONCERNED. I AM VERY SATISFIED AND COMFORTABLE WITH THE ELIMINATION OF THE MANDATE. WE WILL CONTUNIE TO SUPPORT THE ADA EFFORT TO THE TUNE THAT THE NRC RECOMMENDED OF APPROX $15MIL PER YEAR. THAT SHOULD BE EVIDENT THAT OUR INTEREST STILL EXISTS IN ADA.