Write the Charter Before the Team Builds or Buys
The Warwright Team Charter
Companion to You Are Not the Warfighter · Updated 2026-09-29
Use this before a team starts to build, integrate, or buy for a class of system. Write it before the team writes any code or buys any part. Worked in “A Warwright Team Needs Authority, Money, and Time Before It Needs Code.”
The Warwright Team Charter: five parts on one page.
| Part | What it records | Entry |
|---|---|---|
| People | The warfighters who fight with the system (the majority); the integrator lead; the engineers (uniformed, civilian, or contracted, and contracted engineers never write the need); the named partners: a warranted contracting or agreements officer, a resource manager, a judge advocate, a safety and test lead, a cyber and ATO lead, and a sustainment lead; the team’s Multi-Player Mode | |
| Authority | What the team decides; what the commander or PAE granted, in writing, citing the document (for small drones, the O-6 authority of July 10, 2025, which can’t be delegated further and covers closed-loop systems only); what stays with warranted officers, with the PAE’s portfolio, and with each gate | |
| Money | Which appropriation pays for each thing, and who owns each line; the lines the team must not cross, as of the date the charter is signed: the $15,000 micro-purchase threshold and no split purchases; card use above it only in the narrow DFARS cases; the $350,000 expense/investment line for an assembled system (FY2026); budget activity 8 closed to new software pilots (FY2026) | |
| Time | Minimum tour on the team; handover overlap before anyone leaves; the release and test cadence; the date of the first Sustainment Tail Test | |
| Exit | Where the system goes when the team is done with it: hardening and production by a depot or industry, a PAE portfolio, or retirement |
Write the charter with the judge advocate and the resource manager in the room. Authority and money are legal determinations. Recheck every dollar figure before anyone signs. Fill in the Exit row. An empty Exit row leaves the system with no owner after the team is done.