WHAT’S NEW
YOU ARE IN CONTROL OF YOUR DEVELOPMENTAL DESTINY
Your acquisition career is important and it’s up to you to stay relevant, accurate and up-to-date in your area of expertise. Army Acquisition Functional Leaders recently signed memos recommending tailored training within each of the six Functional Areas (FAs) through Continuous Learning Point (CLP) training and credentialing guidance. The latest guidance was released in December in the Program Management (PM) and Engineering and Technical Management (ETM) functional areas.
For fiscal year 2023-24, Program Management guidance outlines tailored training in areas such as acquisition policy, cost estimating throughout the life cycle, program scheduling, performance analysis and assessments, risk management, critical thinking and leadership, and digital literacy. These training opportunities are listed within the memo and can be accessed either through DAU’s iCatalog or DAU’s Partnership with Coursera. Coursera offers courses, books and audiobooks, and the content is provided by industry and academic partners such as Duke University, Yale University, Google and Amazon Web-Services. This free, self-guided developmental platform is user-friendly and rich in content. Army acquisition professionals are encouraged to take courses that both enhance their digital literacy as well as those that support the acquisition life cycle phase their program is currently operating.
For those in the ETM FA workforce, fiscal year 2023-24 guidance entails recommended training areas to be focused on data, Agile software and cybersecurity engineering, STEM educational outreach prospects, quality management, model-based systems engineering and digital engineering, critical thinking and problem solving, and more. Surveys conducted across ETM FA, and among supervisors, indicate that on-the-job training is an excellent method for developing ETM competencies. In particular, participating as a technical review team member may be considered to earn up to 20 CLPs per year. The recommended cross-functional and leadership courses listed in the ETM memo can be found in DAU’s iCatalog.
This guidance is effective for the current two-year continuous learning cycle, which runs through Sept. 30, 2024. These training opportunities may also be found in your Individual Development Plan (IDP) within your CAPPMIS profile. The remaining four functional areas, namely Life Cycle Logistics (LCL), Test and Evaluation (T&E), Contracting (CON), and Business-Cost Estimating (BCE) released their recommended credentials and CLPs recommendation memos earlier this year.
To access the entire collection of policies, memos and other Army Acquisition Workforce guidance, go to the Policy Library.
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POSITION CODING CHANGES, BACK-TO-BASICS
As part of Back-to-Basics implementation, organizations and supervisors were charged with reviewing and updating acquisition position coding requirements to reflect the new framework. Position code changes may include changes to certification level, acquisition functional area or even removal from the Army Acquisition Workforce. Employees are encouraged to check their current acquisition functional area and level of certification required. Any and all questions, comments and concerns should be directed to your supervisor.
To check your position’s current acquisition FA and level of certification required, log in to your CAPPMIS profile, click on “CAPPMIS” in the upper left-hand corner and navigate to the green “ACRB” tab.
In the sample below, Section I, titled “Current Position Data,” contains your position’s FA code, for example, Program Management or Contracting. In Section III, titled “ACQ WF DATA,” you’ll see which level of DAWIA certification is required to achieve, such as Foundational or Practitioner.
For more information and resources on the Back-to-Basics initiative, go to the Back-to-Basics home page.
ACQUISITION EDUCATION, TRAINING AND CAREER DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES
NOW OPEN FOR PERMANENT GS-14/15 CIVILIANS – DAU SENIOR SERVICE COLLEGE FELLOWSHIP
The Director, Acquisition Career Management (DACM) Office is now accepting applications for the Defense Acquisition University Senior Service College Fellowship (DAU-SSCF) program through Jan. 20. The DAU-SSCF program is a 10-month educational senior leadership development opportunity sponsored by the DACM. DAU-SSCF is conducted by DAU through the Huntsville, Alabama; Picatinny Arsenal, New Jersey; and Virtual Seminars. The virtual seminar is an excellent option for any interested and eligible acquisition workforce member located outside of Huntsville and Picatinny.
The purpose of DAU-SSCF is to provide leadership and acquisition training to prepare senior level civilians for leadership roles such as product and project manager, program executive officer and other key acquisition leadership positions to include contracting. The DAU-SSCF program is also approved as a Military Education Level-1 (MEL-1) Senior Service College equivalent. Effective for fiscal year 2023 O6 or GS-15 centralized selection list (CSL): MEL-1 is required before assumption of command. DAU-SSCF is the only civilian fellowship approved by the Army. To learn more, visit the DAU-SSCF home page.
FY24/25 CENTRALIZED SELECTION OPPORTUNITIES:
ANNOUNCEMENTS OPEN FEBRUARY 22
If you’re thinking about applying to a fiscal year 2024/25 Army Acquisition Centralized Selection Boards (CSB) and/or FY25 Centralized Selection List (CSL) positions, early preparation is highly encouraged. The application window for these opportunities is scheduled to open February 22 and close on April 20, 2023.
The Army Acquisition Professional Development System (AAPDS) now enables those who are interested and eligible to “opt-in” to CSB/CSL opportunities using a single portal and one application packet. This streamlined process makes applying even easier and streamlined.
The purpose of the centralized selection process is to identify a pool of high performing and high potential civilian acquisition professionals to lead and manage acquisition programs to meet the mission and vision of the Army Acquisition Enterprise. Best-qualified individuals will be selected for specifically identified acquisition command and acquisition positions.
For additional CSB details, go to https://asc.army.mil/web/career-development/prod-dir or contact Ms. Kelly L Terry at Kelly.l.terry2.civ@army.mil
For additional CSL details, go to https://asc.army.mil/web/centralized-selection-list/ or contact Mr. Adam Polite at adam.b.polite.civ@army.mil
