ACQUISITION EDUCATION, TRAINING AND CAREER DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES
FY22 PRODUCT DIRECTOR (GS-14) AND FY23 PROJECT DIRECTOR (GS-15) CENTRALIZED SELECTION BOARDS
The Army Director of Acquisition Career Management (DACM) Office is pleased to announce the fiscal year (FY) 2022 Product Director GS-14 and FY 2023 Project Director GS-15 Centralized Selection Boards (CSB). This is an opportunity to compete for a centrally selected product director or project director position within an Army Program Executive Office (PEO). All GS-14 or broadband equivalent level Army Acquisition Workforce (AAW) professionals who are Level III program management Defense Acquisition Workforce Improvement Act (DAWIA) certified Army Acquisition Corps (AAC) members are eligible to apply.
- Product Director GS-14 application window opens on June 1 and closes on June 30.
Project Director GS-15 application window opens on June 14 and closes on July 15.
The selection boards for both fiscal years will be conducted immediately following the FY 2023 LTC/GS-14 AAC Product Manager/Acquisition Director Centralized Selection List (CSL) and FY 2023 COL/GS-15 PM/Acquisition Director CSL Boards. For additional details, visit our CSB landing page.
NOW OPEN – INSPIRING AND DEVELOPING EXCELLENCE IN ACQUISITION LEADERS FY22
The Inspiring and Developing Excellence in Acquisition Leaders (IDEAL) program for FY 2022 will be open for applications until July 29. This program is targeted to new and future supervisors who are seeking to refine their leadership skills or develop them in preparation for a supervisory or leadership position. Applicants must be permanent tenure civilian members of the AAW, GS-12 or GS-13 (or broadband equivalent) and meet DAWIA certification requirements. More details and application instructions can be found on our IDEAL program web page.
CALLING FUTURE LEADERS – FY22 DEFENSE CIVILIAN EMERGING LEADER PROGRAM
The Defense Civilian Emerging Leader Program (DCELP) for fiscal year 2022, Cohort 14, is now open for applications. The program develops emerging leaders at the GS-07 through GS-12 and broadband equivalent levels. DCELP combines community-based learning, guest speakers, group projects, coaching and other activities. Cohort 14 is a special fiscal year 2022 cohort for members of the DOD Acquisition Workforce, with excellent opportunities for participants to network with other emerging leaders from across DOD. The application period closes on July 8. Learn more about DCELP and the program criteria here.
FY22 ARMY ACQUISITION TUITION ASSISTANCE PROGRAM EDUCATION OPPORTUNITY
The application window for the Acquisition Tuition Assistance Program (ATAP) is open from June 1 to Aug. 6. ATAP provides tuition assistance to eligible AAW civilians and military occupational specialty (MOS) 51 Contracting (51C) noncommissioned officers (NCOs). MOS 51CNCOs who meet eligibility requirements outlined in the ATAP announcement can also apply for consideration of funding. This opportunity is perfect for taking acquisition- or business-related courses in a declared major toward either a bachelor’s or master’s degree at an accredited college or university of your choice during off-duty time. It is highly recommended that you print out a copy of the ATAP announcement (refer to the PDF titled “ATAP Announcement”) found on the ATAP main information page, read it thoroughly and have it available as you prepare your application.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
SELECTING COMMAND LEADERS WITH THE ACQUISITION LEADER ASSESSMENT PROGRAM
Employing the best talent for the AAW is paramount if we’re to succeed at our mission: to get the very best capabilities into the hands of our warfighters. We’ve taken a large step toward improving those efforts by introducing an exciting new initiative, the Acquisition Leader Assessment Program (ALAP)—the first run of which took place in November at Fort Knox, Kentucky—which will help determine which officers in the Army Acquisition Corps are ready for CSL command and key billet positions. ALAP adds more data to the selection of officers for command and key billet positions.
The DACM Office, in conjunction with the Army Talent Management Task Force, developed ALAP to expand on the current method of determining which officers will be chosen for CSL positions. The current CSL file review process has served the Army well; ALAP adds another dimension to the existing process that further helps identify whether officers are ready for command.
Gen. James McConville, then chief of staff of the Army, announced the inaugural BCAP at the annual meeting of the Association of the United States Army in October 2019, stating, “We spend more time and more money on selecting a private to be in Ranger regiment than we do selecting what I would argue is one of the most consequential leadership positions in the Army, our battalion commanders.” ALAP aims to take that same approach to amassing talent assessment data to find acquisition officers who are ready for command and key billet positions. The legacy process of selecting leaders for command in the AAW has served us well. But ALAP will add more data points, providing a more holistic picture of an acquisition leader’s skills and potential, to help us make better selection decisions for these critical positions that will lead our military and civilians in our most important acquisition efforts. For more details about this exciting talent management initiative, check out the “From the DACM” article in the April 2021 DACM Newsletter.
DOD COLLEGE ACQUISITION INTERNSHIP PROGRAM CAPTURES STUDENTS’ ATTENTION DURING PANDEMIC
From the Office of Human Capital Initiatives (HCI), DOD College Acquisition Internship Program (DCAIP) intern Sydney Williams shares her perspective on the program and her experience working with PEO Soldier. The program is an opportunity for Army acquisition organizations to hire eligible college students for a 10-week paid summer internship. Upon a student’s successful completion of the internship, the organization may noncompetitively convert the individual to a permanent position in the acquisition workforce.
DCAIP was established as a pilot in 2019 by the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment. The Army began its participation in the program in 2020. DCAIP is part of HCI’s talent management strategy to recruit and retain full-time students who are enrolled in higher education institutions. The program is an effort to “build the bench” of talent with degrees that are in high demand across the acquisition community.
THE ARMY INTERNET TRAINING APPLICATION SYSTEM 2.0 IS NOW ONLINE
On May 10, the modernized Army Internet Training Application System (AITAS) 2.0 was deployed. AITAS 2.0 has a completely new look and user-friendly interface. Please take a few minutes to log in with your CAC, get acquainted with the new interface and update your AITAS browser bookmark with the new URL, https://www.atrrs.army.mil/aitas. Users who click on the previous URL will be redirected to the new website. Applications in the former AITAS database were transferred to AITAS 2.0 so students do not need to resubmit those applications.
Do you have questions about AITAS 2.0? The Quick Start Guide is a helpful resource to get you acquainted. Keep in mind, AITAS 2.0 works best when using Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge.
Students must have a supervisor assigned to their student profile. When a supervisor is not assigned, and the student cannot find their supervisor in the search, this means that the supervisor must first create a user profile. Once the supervisor user profile is created, the student will be able to search and select their supervisor.
While using AITAS 2.0, be sure to check out helpful insider tips on the AITAS FAQ page. Students experiencing problems with AITAS 2.0 should submit a help request via CAPPMIS. For more details, the AITAS 2.0 policy is now available in our Policies Library.
DAU NEWS
FY22 DAU TRAINING SCHEDULE
The first and second fiscal quarters of the DAU training schedule will be released and opened for registration on July 8. At this time, we do not know if there will be any resident (in-person) course offerings. The third and fourth quarters of the fiscal year 2022 training schedule are slated to be released sometime in late January 2022.
