NAVIGATING ELECTIVE LEARNING
employee select what they think is necessary and then the super- visor would approve the selected courses and add in anything they felt was missing. Te two would then meet in person (or virtually) and have an actual conversation on the needed train- ing and agree on an appropriate training timeline. Te agreement would then be approved in the IDP by the supervisor.
Te Army acquisition functional leader (AAFL) and functional adviser (AAFA) roles were reviewed and codified via memoran- dum by the principal military deputy to the assistant secretary of the Army for acquisition, logistics and technology (ASA(ALT)), who stressed that their involvement in the following areas was critical:
• Be the AAFA subject matter lead with the technical knowledge and insight on functional area-specific train- ing requirements and competencies.
• Provide strategic vision, direction and advice in shaping, developing and retaining the AAW.
• Offer training, continuous learning and credential recommendations.
• Address mission-critical skill set gaps and other human capital challenges through strategic initiatives.
• Attend the OSD functional integrated team or working group meetings along with DACM Office representa- tives to represent the acquisition functional area (AFA).
Richardson, the program management Army acquisition func- tional leader.
DIGITAL UPSKILLING Many Army acquisition functional leaders embraced the new, exciting and extremely important digital transformation initiative in their fiscal year 2023 memos—some were already published before the need for digital upskilling was realized. Young Bang, principal civilian deputy to the ASA(ALT), directed the DACM Office to “digitally upskill the workforce.” Bang said the digital upskilling “initiative is applicable to the entire acquisition work- force. Tey might not think they are touching software or data, but all our weapon and business systems have digital transfor- mation components, so at a minimum, they need to have at least a basic understanding.”
“We are constantly thinking about products and tools that we can develop that will assist the workforce.”
A fiscal year 2023 highlight for the DACM Office was that each AAFL published a continuous learning memo that iden- tified functional area-specific continuous learning focus areas including training and credentials. One additional and final IDP enhancement the DACM Office provided was to directly list the acquisition functional area-specific training recommendations. When an individual logs into their IDP, it will list (if they are in program management, for example) the courses suggested by
22 Army AL&T Magazine Winter 2024
Digital foundations training is intended to develop an under- standing of topics such as digital transformation; agile software development; development, security and operations (DevSec- Ops); cloud foundations; data science; machine learning; human-centered design; artificial intelligence and cybersecu- rity to practically apply those tools as the AAW leads, develops, tests, fields and sustains Army modernization programs. To do this, a digital foundations training pathway with curated foun- dational-level content was developed through an existing Army partnership with Udemy Business. Te digital foundations train- ing pathway includes three courses (approximately 14 hours total): Digital Transformation Masterclass, Te Agile Samuri Bootcamp, and Product Management for AI [artificial intelli- gence] & Data Science.
Digital training and upskilling do not end with the digital foun- dations training through Udemy. More upskilling opportunities are out there and more will be offered for the workforce. “Our workforce continues to be crucial and instrumental to the success of the multitude of initiatives focused on Army modernization,” said Rosie Bauer, deputy director for the Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army for Data, Engineering and Soft- ware at ASA(ALT). “We have started laying the foundation of a series of training opportunities through Udemy, but we have more to do. Te technology and solutions we are implement- ing exist, as do training material for those solutions. But a true transformation requires cultural change; an understanding that the way we operate, our processes and our tools, need to change and a desire to help lead the way. Change can be hard, that’s just human nature. But through upskilling and hiring, we are achiev- ing digital transformation.”
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