By Tara Clements
FT. BELVOIR, Va. (April 22, 2015) – Leaders from the office responsible for supporting the director of acquisition career management for the Army, or Army DACM Office, held a virtual town hall to discuss the 13 new acquisition career models and answer career-related questions from members of the Army Acquisition Workforce on the U.S. Army Acquisition Support Center (USAASC) Facebook page Tuesday.
“This was a great opportunity to hear from and interact with members of the workforce,” said Diane Murtha, Chief of the Army DACM Office Concept & Policy Development Branch. “This was my first time participating in this type of forum and felt that it was very valuable to be able to answer questions that are top-of-mind for the workforce. I look forward to more in the future.”
The Army DACM Office directly supports the Army, Director of Acquisition Career Management, Lt. Gen. Michael E. Williamson who also serves as the Principal Military Deputy to the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology. The Army DACM Office resides within USAASC at Fort Belvoir and is responsible for ensuring the career development and Defense Acquisition Workforce Improvement Act (DAWIA) certification (training, education and experience) of the Army Acquisition Workforce, which consists of approximately 38,000 acquisition civilian and military members. This workforce resides in Army staff offices, Army commands, Army service component commands, program executive offices, and direct reporting units.
The hour-long session resulted in 10 questions and reached more than 1,700 people. Questions focused on talent management, education and training, certification, etc.
Additional participants included Joan Sable, who oversees daily Army DACM Office functions and responsibilities, Tom Evans who leads the Workforce Support Division, Wen Lin, a training development manager and Kelly Terry, lead for special projects who attended virtually.
“The hour went by quickly with great dialogue and while we didn’t have any questions specific to the 13 new acquisition career models, we welcome questions and feedback at any time,” said Sable. “What’s important to note with the models, is that for the first time, all the training, experience and education resources you need to get wherever you’re wanting to go with your acquisition career is located on one page. And, they are going to get better with additional features and upgrades planned iteratively,” she added.
This was the second event of its kind, with the first taking place last September with Williamson himself.
Murtha noted that the workforce can expect future virtual sessions to focus on topics such as Senior Rater Potential Evaluations; Ellie, the Virtual Acquisition Career Guide and a virtual Civilian panel of flash mentors to address centralized selection lists.
The Army DACM Office website provides a one-stop shop of any and everything related to Army acquisition careers. Questions from the workforce are fielded every day through the Workforce Management Inquiry System averaging responses within 24-48 hours at the latest.
View a complete transcript of the town hall.
Download the Career Model FAQs.
Joan Sable and Diane Murtha (top), Wen Lin and Tom Evans (bottom), prepare for the Army DACM Office’s first virtual town hall on Facebook. The hour-long session, conducted April 21, reached more than 1,700 people covering career questions from members of the Army Acquisition Workforce.
Access AL&T is the premier online news source for the Army Acquisition Workforce.
Click to Subscribe
