FROM THE DIRECTOR OF
ACQUISITION CAREER MANAGEMENT C R A IG A. SP I S A K
DIGGING DEEPER
Supporting the future force by building a more technically savvy Army Acquisition Corps.
Y PUTTING DOWN STAKES
The Army Acquisition Corps established a presence in August at branch orientation during the Cadet Summer Training Advanced Camp at Fort Knox, Kentucky. During the orientation, cadets have the opportunity to talk with representatives of the basic branches and participating functional areas. (Photos by Lt. Col. Gerald A. Lyles IV, U.S. Army Acquisition Support Center)
ou can only get out of a system what you put into it.
We currently have a high-quality process that we have used to get stel- lar, remarkably talented military acquisition officers. But our existing system, however successful, doesn’t necessarily get us a handful of some
very specific types of officers we’re looking for. Today, the vast majority of officers who have science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education and experience are leaving the Army before we have a chance to bring them into acquisition. Historically, more than 20 percent of commissioned officers possess a STEM degree at the start of a cohort year group. By the time that year group is available to us through the Voluntary Transfer Incentive Program, less than 5 percent remain whom we can access into Functional Area 51 (FA51).
In looking at that and other datasets, we realize that our best opportunity to shape what the future FA51 officer population will look like is to modify the intake process, which starts very early in the officers’ careers. We have developed a robust recruit- ment effort to identify and target the types of officers we think will be the best force multipliers for us several years into the future, at a point and time much earlier in their careers than we have traditionally approached them.
OUTREACH TO THE FORCE In early August at the annual Cadet Summer Training Advanced Camp at Fort Knox, Kentucky, we set up, for the first time, an Army Acquisition Corps tent at branch orientation, which provides an opportunity for the basic branches and participat- ing functional area representatives to talk directly with cadets. Te tent was staffed by Soldiers from the Army Director, Acquisition Career Management (DACM) Office, the Acquisition Management Branch of U.S. Army Human Resources
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Army AL&T Magazine
Fall 2019
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