NAVIGATING ELECTIVE LEARNING
area using the same standard, to a new model with less prescrip- tive training—putting the onus on individuals, supervisors and commands to determine which additional training is needed for each specific person. Enter the world of elective learning.
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Back-to-Basics redefined the coded acquisition workforce by focusing on coded acquisition workforce positions that develop, acquire and sustain operational capability. One of the main goals of this initiative was to improve the defense acquisition work- force’s agility by streamlining the functional area framework and prioritizing limited training resources. Te training, education and experiential requirements for certification were streamlined and supplemented by job-specific credentials and tailored contin- uous learning opportunities. A Defense Acquisition University (DAU) credential recognizes an individual’s knowledge, skills and abilities to perform a DOD acquisition-related function or set of tasks. Credentials developed and deployed by DAU equip DOD workforce members with required skills through comple- tion of a learning pathway and an assessment to verify correct application of the skills in a DOD context. DAU credentials are essentially a bundle of online classes and a test brought together to improve the skills within an acquisition subject.
Te intent of the Back-to-Basics change was to “train to a common set of competencies required across DOD in the certi- fication courses. Reduce the amount of ‘scrap learning,’ which is information that individuals may not need for their current job,” said Aaron Hutson, who serves as the strategy and policy branch chief in the Army Director of Acquisition Career Management (DACM) Office.
ith the implementation of Back-to-Basics in February 2022, the acquisition workforce development model moved from a one-size, train everyone within an acquisition functional
Te dust has largely settled from the first major change to the Defense Acquisition Workforce Improvement Act (DAWIA) since its inception in the early 1990s. Tis strategic overhaul of acquisition workforce development really moved away from prescriptive one-size-fits-all training into a leaner, flexible train- ing model. Tis new model changed many paradigms of DAWIA training, including career fields to functional areas; each career field having three levels of certification to each functional area having between one and two levels of certification, ranging from Foundational or Professional to Practitioner and Advanced; and a reduction in scrap learning—less prescriptive certification training.
Te previous acquisition “career field” structure streamlined into six functional areas that represent the “basics” of acquisi- tion: business financial management/cost estimating (BUS-FM/ BUS-CE), contracting (CON), engineering and technical management (ETM), life cycle logistics (LCL), program manage- ment (PM), and test and evaluation (T&E). Te major changes here were multiple prior career fields combining into engineering and technical management and contracting, respectively. With a smaller “bucket” of functional areas and less prescriptive train- ing requirements, the idea was to promote and facilitate more training and assignments across functional areas.
LEVELING UP Another paradigm shift was moving from the longstanding certi- fication levels of I, II and III to a framework that depended on the acquisition functional areas of the workforce. Acquisition levels moved to Foundational, Professional, Practitioner or Advanced. Where the system previously was ripe for a cookie cutter approach to position certification level coding, now that no longer exists. Human resource professionals and supervisors must look at each position individually within the functional area and determine the appropriate certification level. Te DACM Office transitioned or transferred achieved legacy certifications into the new frame- work for current Army Acquisition Workforce (AAW) members.
“Change can be hard, that's just human nature. But through upskilling and hiring, we are achieving digital transformation.”
18 Army AL&T Magazine Winter 2024
Each functional area has a functional integrated team that includes representatives from each of the services, Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) leaders, human capital initiatives, as well as the DAU, that not only decide on the functional area curriculum but also determine the levels appropriate for that specific functional area. Te DACM Office played an active role in every functional integrated team, along with a functional Army lead, to sit at the table and provide a unified workforce development and functional expertise voice for the Army.
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