The Packard Commission

The President's Blue Ribbon Commission on Defense Management also known as the Packard Commission was a federal government commission by President Ronald Reagan, created by Executive Order to study several areas of management functionality within the Department of Defense of the United States. It was chaired by David Packard.

Beginning in 1981, President Ronald Reagan began an expansion in the size and capabilities of the United States armed forces, which entailed major new expenditures on weapons procurement. By the mid-1980s, this spending became a scandal when the Project On Government Oversight reported that the Pentagon had vastly overpaid for a wide variety of items, most notoriously paying $435 for a hammer, $600 for a toilet seat, and $7,000 for a aircraft coffee maker.

In response to these scandals, President Reagan appointed a commission chaired by David Packard to study government procurement undertaken by the United States Department of Defense. The Commission consisted of Packard, Ernest C. Arbuckle, Robert H. Barrow, Nicholas F. Brady, Louis W. Cabot, Frank Carlucci, William P. Clark, Jr., Barber Conable, Paul F. Gorman, Carla Anderson Hills, James L. Holloway III, William Perry, Robert T. Marlow, Charles J. Pilliod, Jr., Brent Scowcroft, Herbert Stein, and R. James Woolsey, Jr. The President tasked the Commission with studying defense management policies and procedures, including:

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