FROM THE DIRECTOR OF


ACQUISITION CAREER MANAGEMENT RONA LD R. R ICH A R DSON JR .


BEYOND THE BASICS


The Army Acquisition Workforce is now working under a new and improved framework.


O


n February 15, the Army implemented “Back-to- Basics”—a talent management initiative meant to streamline acquisition workforce functional areas and prioritize training resources.


Te previous 14 Army acquisition career fields are now six func- tional areas with seven certification tracks, which are more closely aligned with our acquisition modernization priorities. (See Figure 1.)


Te Back-to-Basics initiative also required that we reevalu- ate which positions make up the Army Acquisition Workforce, focusing on those professionals who develop, acquire and sustain operational capability. Tat effort resulted in decoding out some positions of the Army Acquisition Workforce. Our total work- force numbers are now just over 32,000 compared to the more than 40,000 under the previous framework. We’re a more focused workforce, aligning better with the needs of the acquisition enterprise.


HOW IT STARTED Te Defense Acquisition Workforce Improvement Act (DAWIA) became law in 1990. Around that time I was a young Army captain, and I remember the race to get certified in your acqui- sition career field. Tis was a new requirement. Tere was also a general sense that the more certifications you had the more competitive you would be as a candidate for promotion.


94 Army AL&T Magazine Summer 2022


I recall the first level of certification being a big lift. I took ACQ 101 at Hanscom Air Force Base with a diverse group of acquisi- tion professionals from whom I learned a great deal and, in all candor, probably more than from the course itself. Te group at my table consisted of an Air Force officer from the B-52 follow- on operational test and evaluation program, an Army civilian from the Patriot Missile program, a Navy officer working Phalanx sustainment, a food scientist from Natick Soldier Systems Center, and me. As I recall, the course itself was three weeks long, and included a wealth of information, such as an introduction to all major acquisition functions. We went through the Program Manager’s Handbook in its entirety; learned a lot about planning, programming, budgeting and execution; and discussed case stud- ies on predominantly Acquisition Category (ACAT) I programs. For many of us, it would be another 20 years before we would have the opportunity to work on a major defense acquisition program. Others would never receive that chance.


Over about the next year and a half, I took all of the Defense Acquisition University (DAU) coursework I needed for Level II certification in both program management and systems engi- neering, as well as Level I qualifying courses in most of the other (six at the time, if I recall correctly) acquisition career fields. As the number of career fields expanded and the workforce grew, I noticed that there was tremendous overlap between classes, both within the career field as well as between career fields. Such was the repetition that as much of half the training was often a repeat


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