BUILDING THE BENCH OF ACQUISITION TALENT
in five or 10 years’ when they are first graduating college,” he said, so ultimately, he decided that having something that was more of a long-term investment was the better path for him. Feld was hired by ATC through the two-year Army Fellows Program designed to hire and develop future leaders from college, and his role today as an information technology specialist is mostly the same as what he experienced during his internship.
“Te Army has offered a lot of valuable experiences,” he said, as well as continuing opportunities for training and education to keep the pace with industry in a digital field.
A NEW OPPORTUNITY
Aaron Feld sits in his office at U.S. Army Aberdeen Test Center, where he is now a full-time federal civilian employee. Feld was part of the first Army DCAIP in summer 2020. (Photo by Deirdre S. Cascardo, U.S. Army Aberdeen Test Center Public Affairs)
was doing. It was meaningful and had an immediate impact, so when the opportunity presented itself, I took it.”
Te decision of any college graduate to choose a career path is not without weight, especially for those with highly demanded digital skill sets. It’s a fact that the salary overall in federal service is significantly lower than industry in digital fields like coding, Feld said, and can be a factor for graduates, but “on the flip side, government provides a far stabler long-term investment both for job security and salary over time,” he said.
Another known factor for today’s graduates is job flexibility. DOD offices and military installations are not always easily accessible and due to the nature of the positions, they often require work in-person. Since COVID, although teleworking within DOD has improved, Feld said, at U.S. Army Test and Evaluation Command and other organizations there is still a two- day in-person requirement each pay period. “Within a rapidly shifting landscape where people want to be able to work from anywhere, having even two days over a two-week period that you need to be in person can be a turnoff for some because it is not completely remote.”
“Sometimes people look at immediate salaries and job place- ments but don’t necessarily consider, ‘where am I going to be
28 Army AL&T Magazine Winter 2024
CONCLUSION “Te Army is focused on developing the digital acumen of its acquisition employees, and DCAIP is playing a role in that,” Faria said. “Entry-level employees, especially college students and recent graduates, are an essential part of the recruiting and hiring effort. Tis generation grew up using computers, mobile devices and social media. Tey quickly pick up the new technology that they’re likely to encounter when working in acquisition. DCAIP allows Army acquisition to bring members of this talented group into its workforce.”
“Tis is a time of great change,” Feld said of digital transforma- tion in the Army. “I am excited to see where this is going.”
Each year, the DOD College Acquisition Internship Program application window opens from September to October and inter- views are conducted through February. Te internship period runs May/June through August.
For more information, go to
https://www.hci.mil or email
DoDcollegeinternship@dau.edu.
HOLLY DECARLO-WHITE provides contract support to the
U.S. Army Acquisition Support Center at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, as a writer and editor for Army AL&T magazine for SAIC. Previously, she was a public affairs specialist at U.S. Army Garrison Stuttgart, Germany. She holds a B.S. in merchandising management from the Fashion Institute of Technology, State University of New York, and has more than a decade of communications and operations experience in the private sector.
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