Navy to reset and reinvigorate Operation Cattle Drive

DefenseScoop obtained a new memo that lays out the department's updated approach for consolidating and sunsetting legacy IT.

By Brandi Vincent

July 18, 2024

U.S. Sailors prepare for a live-fire exercise aboard the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71), July 9, 2024. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Ikia Walker)

The Navy is poised to issue revamped guidance to steer how its components apply “structured divestment” practices for sunsetting legacy information technology systems so that they can ultimately enable “smarter investments” in modernization capabilities, according to a new memorandum obtained by DefenseScoop.

The memo — signed by the Navy’s Acting Chief Technology Officer Justin Fanelli on Thursday, but not yet publicly released — lays out a clear pathway for officials to pinpoint, assess and eliminate redundant IT platforms.

Specifically, this new structured divestment approach builds on and marks “the execution of Navy’s Operation Cattle Drive,” the memo states.

Cattle Drive was launched in 2020 as a strategic effort to facilitate more rapid IT consolidation. By 2022, the sea service confirmed it had saved roughly $150 million from that effort.

A senior defense official who spoke to DefenseScoop on the condition of anonymity to discuss the new memo suggested that it’s meant to build on that past momentum, but also help the Navy become more lean and impactful in how it drives tech disinvestments to free up funds that could be invested in more advanced assets.

The memo details the process Navy officials should use to determine if they should retire an IT system, and if needed, fully decommission it.

This refresh and double-down on Cattle Drive is also part of a broader initiative within the service to expand digital transformation-enabling practices that are presently garnering small-scale wins in different components, which leadership has deemed agile centered design concepts (ACDC). The new memo includes elements that articulate how it connects with some of those concepts, including World Class Alignment metrics, and structured piloting.

The Department of the Navy chief information officer in coordination with the assistant secretary of the Navy financial management and comptroller, will be “the lead champion for Cattle Drive across all mission areas,” the memo states.

The directive also lists a variety of “implementation best practices” for Navy personnel.

Among them, officials are told to submit their results to specific Microsoft Teams channels, and also “leverage and incorporate the expertise” of relevant Naval deputy CIOs, as well as “U.S. Fleet Cyber Command/U.S. TENTH Fleet or Marine Corps Forces Cyberspace Command when executing activities under Cattle Drive.”