CAREER CORNER USAASC PERSPECTIVE FROM THE DIRECTOR, U. S . ARMY ACQUISITION SUPPORT CENTER


THE ARMY ACQUISITION CORPS: EVOLVING EXCELLENCE


S


ince its launch a quarter of a century ago, the Army Acquisi- tion Corps (AAC)—spanning four presidential administrations,


eight defense secretaries, 13 secretaries of the Army and eight Army chiefs of staff—has evolved into a highly qualified, well-educated,


competitive, competent


and experienced workforce of more than 38,000 acquisition professionals.


In a 1990 memo, then-Army Chief of


Staff GEN Carl E. Vuono introduced the AAC to the force, writing, “Te AAC will enhance and sustain the acquisition skills of a select group of officers with a solid foundation of operational experience and civilian specialists with proven technical experience. Te program will integrate education, training, assignments and promotion for military and civilian mem- bers of the AAC.”


Now, 25 years later and with the subse- quent passage of the Defense Acquisition Workforce Improvement Act (DAWIA), Vuono’s vision—a workforce of acquisi- tion professionals working persistently to deliver the latest weapon systems, equip- ment, and products and services to the


138 Army AL&T Magazine + Craig A. Spisak Director, U.S. Army Acquisition Support Center


best fighting force in the history of the world—has become reality. (See Figure 1.)


BUILDING ON THE FOUNDATION In its early days, the AAC’s primary focus was on creating the foundational training, education and


experience


qualifications to meet the DAWIA pro- fessional standards set for the Acquisition Workforce. In 25 years, that qualifica- tions focus has progressed dramatically to include improving the competency of the workforce.


One of the things that we’re proud of in our business is that we’re constantly assessing best practices and lessons learned to decide what skill sets are nec- essary to improve capabilities. We have grown from providing the workforce with the basic training and education qualifications to offering them the tools (opportunities, education and leadership development) not only to stay current, but also to excel and become experts in their particular acquisition discipline.


Over the decades, training, education and providing experience to the workforce have changed accordingly. Contingency contracting operations have developed exponentially, starting with a few during the Persian Gulf War in 1991 and then increasing after 2001 with the growing operations tempo of Operations Endur- ing Freedom and Iraqi Freedom. We now have different strategies on hardware, software and information systems testing, new approaches in program management, new technology in the engineering field and more contractor


logistics support.


It’s easy to see how things have changed across every acquisition career field and to understand why we have to constantly


October–December 2014


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