July 2025 Hot Topics

FY26 DAU TRAINING SCHEDULE OPENS JULY 17

Starting July 17, DAU’s entire FY26 schedule and access to apply for FY26 courses will be available. As a member of the Army Acquisition Workforce (AAW), part of managing your career is meeting your position’s statutory requirements by being certified at a certain level within your specific functional area (FA). Getting certified means, you’ve met the necessary training, experience, and depending on the position, education standards. Take into consideration that some courses fill up quickly so, get an early start and make your training plan with the help of the DAU iCatalog.

Your training decisions should be made well ahead of time, before applying to courses, and with your supervisor’s awareness. This way, when the FY26 schedule is released on July 17, you can apply for training right away and with your supervisor’s full support.

And for those in the Program Management acquisition functional area taking DAU courses toward your DAWIA certification, you may need to adapt to recently added new training requirements. This is a significant change, adding approximately 22 and 21 hours of training to the Practitioner and Advanced levels, respectively. Changes go into effect on Oct. 1, 2025. To review the memo, CLICK HERE.

TUITION ASSISTANCE – ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS THROUGH JULY 15

The Acquisition Tuition Assistance Program (ATAP) provides tuition assistance, including laboratory and technology fees, to eligible AAW professionals taking individual acquisition- or business-related college courses or to those pursuing an acquisition- or business-related bachelor’s or master’s degree. Eligible applicants who already have a master’s degree can now apply for a second master’s degree in a business, technical or acquisition-related discipline. Be sure to open the ATAP Announcement .pdf under the “Announcement” section! The ATAP application window closes on July 15. For complete details, click here.

IDEAL OPEN FOR APPLICATIONS UNTIL AUGUST 1

The Inspiring and Developing Excellence in Acquisition Leaders (IDEAL) program is now accepting applications for the FY26 cohort until Aug. 1. IDEAL is a leader development program for new and emerging AAW supervisors at GS-12 and -13 (or broadband equivalent). It uses a competency-based approach focused on Army leadership competencies identified in Army Regulation 600-100, Army Profession and Leadership Policy. Standard across all Acquisition Functional Areas, those competencies are:

• Prepares self
• Builds trust
• Stewards the profession
• Communicates
• Develops others
• Leads by example
• Gets results
• Creates a positive environment
• Leads others
• Extends influence

Participants should possess clearly documented potential for supervisory or leadership positions. There will be one FY26 cohort, and it will meet in Huntsville, Alabama, for three one week-long resident sessions held over a period of approximately four months. The IDEAL curriculum includes classroom instruction, engagement with senior leaders, a site visit and group activities. Between sessions, participants will return to their workplaces to use newly learned skills and put into practice the concepts and competencies they studied during the resident sessions. For additional details, go to https://asc.army.mil/web/career-development/programs/inspiring-and-developing-excellence-in-acquisition-leaders-ideal/.

ADVANCED CIVIL SCHOOLING (ACS) FOR OFFICERS – GET YOUR ADVANCED DEGREE

ACS allows Army acquisition officers a chance to pursue advanced degrees in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), acquisition, or business-related disciplines at civilian universities on a full-time, fully funded basis. The Army DACM Office fully funds board-selected officers enrolled in advanced education programs.

The school of choice option applies to officers who are pursuing an acquisition related area of study or are accepted by a top-tier university for an acquisition relevant degree. Eligible participants can attend, and are not limited to, schools such as Naval Postgraduate School, George Washington University, Boston University, University of Virginia, Duke University, University of Georgia, Georgia Tech, William and Mary, Vanderbilt University, University of Michigan, University of North Carolina.

The primary focus of education must be an acquisition relevant Master of Science in STEM field, Master of Business Administration (MBA), Master of Studies in Law (MSL), or a Master of Science in Systems Engineering Management. Applications to ACS will be accepted until Aug. 8. For more information: ACS page.

ATTENTION NEW AND DEVELOPING CONTRACTING PROFESSIONALS

If you’re a new or developing acquisition Contracting specialist, upgrade or touch up your skills using Defense Acquisition University’s (DAU) recently remodeled Contracting On-the-Job (OJT) Planning tool. Focused and streamlined, the enhanced tool provides a practical, flexible framework that aligns with the Technical and Professional Competencies as outlined within the DoD Contracting Competency Model. This downloadable tool helps new employees and their supervisors with promoting ongoing communication and developing intentional, tailored learning plans. Some key features include:

• Direct alignment with the DoD Contracting Competency Model
• Sample tasks for each competency, with flexibility to add custom, job-specific ones
• 1–3 proficiency rating scale for each sample task (1 = low, 2 = average, 3 = high)
• Signature Page for supervisor and employee validation
• Includes a Home Page “Dashboard” showing instructions, overall progress, and links to each competency
• Includes link to an Instructional Video for quick orientation and guidance

The tool can be downloaded here!

2025 ARMY ACQUISITION EXECUTIVE’S EXCELLENCE (AAE) IN LEADERSHIP AWARDS

The nomination submission window for the 2025 AAE in Leadership Awards closes on July 25. This award honors individuals and teams whose dedication, innovation and leadership provide the Army with the cutting-edge capabilities needed to stay ahead in an ever-changing environment. The awards highlights achievements across a range of categories, showcasing the diverse ways in which the AAW contributes to mission readiness. For more information: https://asc.army.mil/web/aae-awards/

Army acquisition has been around since the founding of the U.S. Army. Today’s Army Acquisition Workforce plays a crucial role in driving modernization, readiness, and innovation throughout the force. Explore this retrospective from when we celebrated 25 years of the Army Acquisition Corps and acquisition excellence to learn how the Army Acquisition Workforce has been structured and professionalized: https://asc.army.mil/web/aac25-25-years-and-counting/

NEW HIRES – TAKE THE AAW ONBOARDING COURSE

Start your success off on the right foot! Become familiar with the basics of your acquisition career with the “Welcome to the Army Acquisition Workforce” course. This course should be completed within the first few months of joining the acquisition workforce as it offers a dynamic overview of:

• The Army Acquisition Workforce
• Training and certification standards
• Tools and resources
• Career models
• Development and leadership opportunities
• Staying connected

To access and begin taking the course, navigate to the Army Training Information System (ATIS) Learning home page at https://learn.atis.army.mil/moodle. (Chrome or Edge browsers are recommended.)

• Login to EAMS-A-Single Sign-On (CAC login)
• Click the CATALOG tab
• Locate the Welcome to the Army Acquisition Workforce course on the list of Published courses, or enter the course name in the Search field, and click the search icon.
• Select the Register & Launch button, which will take you directly where you can launch the Learning Assignment(s) required for the course.

There is a downloadable resources guide included with the course. You are highly encouraged to download and save a copy of this resources guide for your records. Once you have closed the course topic, your completion will show up on your ATIS LEARNING MY CERTIFICATES page. Click the certificate file icon to access and download the course completion certificate.