You are the PCO on a new competitive program that is preparing for the System Development and Demonstration phase (SDD), and you are very close to issuing the RFP. The Captain, who is also the PM, comes up to you and says that the Colonel at the requirements office has asked that a few significant last minute requirements be put into the RFP, and he wants to know what your thoughts are. What do you tell the PM? {Ans: This is always tricky. The Captain here will most likely not say "no" to the Colonel. The correct response, however, is two-fold: The Program Manager should tell the Colonel that there will most likely be a cost, schedule, and/or performance impact from adding the new requirement. The impact may be as simple as a delay in contract award or more complex than that. The Captain has an obligation to tell the Colonel that he/she will obtain that information and provide it to the Colonel so that the Colonel can make an informed decision. The PM should also ask the Colonel if the new requirements can be inserted at a planned future date, perhaps along with other new or changed requirements.