Background

In 1985, the DoD called for an extensive review of the education and training functions. At the same time, President Reagan established the

Packard Commission The President's Blue Ribbon Commission on Defense Management, informally known as the Packard Commission, was a federal government commission by President Ronald Reagan, created by to study several areas of management functionality within the US ...

to review the management of the DoD. Both studies indicated that acquisition workers were undertrained and inexperienced, resulting in the enactment of DAWIA as part of the FY 1991 National Defense Authorization Act.

Content

The DoD Directive 5000 series set forth a unified approach that all services were to follow. As part of this the

Defense Acquisition University The Defense Acquisition University (DAU) is a corporate university of the United States Department of Defense offering "acquisition, technology, and logistics" (AT&L) training to military and Federal civilian staff and Federal contractors. DAU ...

(DAU) was established, a unified consortium of previously separate services and separate courses. The efforts to structure and advance acquisition led to 5 college-level campuses, producing works such as the Defense Acquisition Guide ( DAG); library collections; publications of Defense AT&L Magazine and the Defense Acquisition Review Journal; the development of numerous courses including online learning; and professional conferences. Civilian and military positions in the acquisition workforce have acquisition duties that fall into fifteen functional areas. For each area, certification is available at three levels typified as Level I Basic or Entry (GS5-9), Level II Intermediate or Journeyman (GS 9-12), and Level III Advanced or Senior (GS 13 and above): *Auditing *Business Cost Estimating and Financial Management (no longer use) *Business Cost Estimating (as of 2010) *Business Financial Management (as of 2010) *Contracting *Facilities Engineering *Industrial/Contract Property Management *Information Technology *Life Cycle Logistics *Production, Quality and Manufacturing *Program Management *Purchasing *Small Business *Systems Planning, Research, Development and Engineering – Program Systems Engineering (no longer use after 2013) *Science and Technology Manager – Formerly known as Systems Planning, Research, Development and Engineering – Science and Technology Manager *Engineering – Formerly known as Systems Planning, Research, Development and Engineering – Systems Engineering *Test and Evaluation

References

External links

10 USC Chapter 87 - DEFENSE ACQUISITION WORKFORCE at Cornell Law

Department of Navy DAWIA Operating Guide, 21 Dec 2011

Defense AT&L Magazine

Defense Acquisition Review Journal

* ttp://www.rand.org/pubs/occasional_papers/OP266.html Shining a Spotlight on the Defense Acquisition Workforce -- Again, RAND 2009 United States federal defense and national security legislation United States Department of Defense United States defense procurement