SEPTEMBER 2023 ARMY DACM HOT TOPICS

WHAT’S NEW?

CHECK OUT THE NEW DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION WEBSITE
Digital transformation is not just a hot topic, it is a priority for the Army. The Army Modernization Strategy identifies digital transformation as an essential component representing a shift in operations and culture. This shift fundamentally changes how the Army delivers value through investments in transformative digital technologies needed to execute the full range of Army missions. In support of this initiative, the Army Director, Acquisition Career Management (DACM) Office with support of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army for Data Engineering and Software (DASA (DES)), is accelerating the digital transformation of the Army Acquisition Workforce.

On the new Digital Transformation page, you’ll have access to the latest news, training information, resources and answers to FAQs. Go to https://asc.army.mil/web/digital-transformation.

UDEMY IS A MANDATORY TRAINING REQUIREMENT

Keep the Army competitive by upskilling through Udemy! The Army Modernization Strategy identifies digital transformation as an essential component to modernizing the Army; changing how the Army builds the workforce into one with the training and experience needed to execute the full range of Army missions.
Digital Transformation is:

• Key to ensuring that the Army becomes a modern, lethal and ready force that can dominate in technological environments.
• An enabler for Army readiness and reform and serves as a catalyst to revitalize and establish the Army’s digital workforce of the future.
• Driven through innovation and new business and operating models, powered by a digital workforce that is agile, adaptive and tech-savvy.
• Aimed at developing a workforce that can continually adapt and adopt new advanced digital technologies (cloud, data and artificial intelligence).

“If we modernize effectively, efficiently, and persistently, the Army can do its part to ensure we are prepared to compete, deter, fight and win when our Nation calls.”

As part of the Army’s Digital Transformation initiative, the DACM Office and DASA(DES) have curated three courses to assist in digitally upskilling our Army Acquisition Workforce:

1. “Digital Transformation 2023 Masterclass.”
2. “Agile Samurai Bootcamp.”
3. “Product Management for AI & Data Science.”

While these courses are mandatory for any acquisition-coded employees in all Program Executive Offices (PEO), the U.S. Army Acquisition Support Center (USAASC) and ASA(ALT), we highly encourage all acquisition workforce members to take them. Acquisition personnel in any PEO, USAASC, ASA(ALT) must complete the three mandatory Udemy courses no later than Sept. 30.

Go to armyciv.udemy.com to register and begin your learning.

How To Register with Udemy
If you have not yet registered with Udemy, here’s how:
• Go to the specialized Army Civilian Career Management Activity (ACCMA) section of Udemy and fill in the requested information. The email address that you use to register with must be your army.mil address.

• Complete the email verification and fill out the required registration information.
• Click “Learning Path” (top, left side of page).
• Go to “Digital Foundations” (left side of page) to access the THREE curated courses:

1. “Digital Transformation 2023 Masterclass.”
2. “Agile Samurai Bootcamp.”
3. “Product Management for AI & Data Science.”

These steps will ensure you are taking the shorter, curated versions of the courses. Please follow these instructions to access the training and do not search for the courses individually. If personnel search for the courses in Udemy, they will inadvertently take longer, non-curated courses.

Ready to Begin?

Once you are registered in Udemy with your Army email address, follow these steps to locate your curated Digital Foundations training pathway:

• Log in to the Udemy portal at armyciv.udemy.com.
• In the upper, right-hand corner, select “My Learning.”
• Select the “Learning Paths” tab.
• Select “Digital Foundations.”
• To begin taking the first course, select “Digital Transformation 2023 – Masterclass.”
• Press the Play button.

For your convenience, all required courses within Udemy count towards Continuous Learning Points (CLPs) in CAPPMIS and will be automatically credited upon completion. You do not need to manually add them to your Individual Development Plan (IDP). If you have questions on how to navigate the site, register or to find helpful FAQs, go to the Army Acquisition Workforce milSuite site.

PAID ACQUISITION INTERNSHIPS FOR COLLEGE STUDENTS!

The Defense Acquisition University (DAU) Office of Human Capital Initiatives (HCI) will accept applications starting Sept. 13 for the DOD College Acquisition Internship Program (DCAIP). DCAIP is a paid, 12-week internship that exposes students to DOD acquisition workforce career opportunities. The program targets full-time second- and third-year students currently enrolled in an undergraduate program at an accredited college or university. Selected students will work full-time over 12 weeks, between May and August 2024. There may be opportunities to return during the summer of 2025, determined by DOD component need and student eligibility. After college graduation, the student may be eligible for conversion to a permanent position within the acquisition workforce.

While internship opportunities exist for students with a multitude of degree disciplines, those with STEM degrees are especially encouraged to apply. Students are encouraged to apply early, as the window for applications closes Oct. 11 or sooner, if the maximum number of applications for a particular location is reached. To learn more about this opportunity, go to HCI’s DCAIP webpage: https://www.hci.mil/dodcareers/internship.html.

ATTENTION CONTRACTING PERSONNEL – THE ACQUISITION EXCHANGE PROGRAM IS ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS

On behalf of the Principal Director, Defense Pricing and Contracting (DPC):

DPC announces the next cycle of the career-broadening Acquisition Exchange Program (AEP) opportunity for government employees. The DPC AEP initiative provides a unique career developmental experience for high-caliber individuals in acquisition and acquisition-related career fields. Candidates could work within DPC in positions of contracting e-business; contract policy; or price, cost and finance. Applications for the fiscal year 2024 program will be accepted through Sept. 29. Planned start date for the program is Jan. 23, 2024, and will last 12 months. Interested individuals are encouraged to submit their completed application form, with supervisor approval, along with their current resume to: osd.pentagon.ousd-a.s.mbx.dpc@mail.mil.

To view the program details, FAQs and application form, go to the DPC webpage at: https://www.acq.osd.mil/asda/dpc/ops/aep.html. All applicants must be government employees and have an active security clearance.

UNLOCK WISDOM WITH DEBOK

Brought to you by the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering (OUSD(R&E)), the Digital Engineering Body of Knowledge, known as DEBoK, is a powerful, new centralized hub of over 150 curated digital engineering resources ensuring the DOD engineering community has a common knowledge base while implementing digital engineering practices. Some of the many features include a guided search capability to filter by role and focus area. This knowledge base does not require a CAC to gain access.

“The purpose of DEBoK is to capture knowledge through documentation to assist with the transition from traditional acquisition processes to a digital environment. The DEBoK will allow professionals to engage with one another with DOD services and agencies to include acquisition professionals, analysts, modelers, engineers and warfighters. The DEBoK will allow these professionals to bring together all the captured knowledge to support Digital Engineering Transformation.” Check it out today!

MILITARY

ACS FOR NONCOMMISSIONED OFFICERS

The Army DACM Office is pleased to announce the Advanced Civil Schooling (ACS) application window for fiscal year 2024 is currently open. The ACS program allows active-duty Army NCOs a chance to pursue advanced degrees in acquisition or business-related disciplines at civilian universities on a full-time, fully funded basis. ACS also unlocks enhanced skills and acquisition experience through top-tier university programs. This opportunity is open and closes on Sept. 29, with a program start window of July 1, 2024 through Dec. 30, 2025. Reach out to your Proponent NCO Team to see if you are a good fit for this opportunity. Go to the ACS webpage to learn more about the application process and eligibility https://asc.army.mil/web/career-development/programs/nco-advanced-civil-schooling.

DAU NEWS

CONTRACTING EXAM PREP COURSE PREREQUISITE UPDATE

Starting fiscal year 2024, CON 3910, Contracting Certification Exam Prep Course will be a prerequisite for CON 3900V. CON 3900V is being condensed into a four-day class starting Oct. 1. All Contracting Certification Exam takers are encouraged to take CON 3910 prior to taking the exam. Taking CON 3910 has proven to be effective in preparing exam takers to successfully pass the exam.

The Contracting Certification Exam will not have prerequisites unless the exam is not successfully completed on the first attempt. As a reminder, the Army DACM requires successful completion of CON 1100V, CON 1200V, CON 1300V and CON 1400V prior to registration to take the CON exam.

UPDATES TO TEST & EVALUATION FOUNDATIONAL CERTIFICATION

The Defense Acquisition University (DAU) retired ENG 101, Fundamentals of Systems Engineering, and replaced it with TST 1100, Intro to Systems Engineering for Testers. ENG 101 is a valid predecessor for TST 1100 through Sept. 2025, so if you have completed ENG 101, you will not be required to take TST 1100 until the ENG 101 predecessor expires.

Additional information about the course is available in the DAU iCatalog at https://icatalog.dau.edu/onlinecatalog/courses.aspx?crs_id=12872.

COMING SOON – NEW DESIGN TO DAU WEBSITE

DAU.edu will start the new fiscal year with a new look and feel. You can see the new design and improved features beginning mid-September.

REMINDERS

The Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology (ASA(ALT)) is now accepting articles, opinion pieces or essays for the 10th annual Major General Harold J. “Harry” Greene Awards for Acquisition Writing Competition. Articles must be from 500 to 1,800 words and in one of the following four categories: Acquisition reform, future operations, innovation or lessons learned. Entries are due by Oct. 2. For more information, go to:

https://www.army.mil/article/268061/authors_encouraged_to_participate_in_the_army_acquisition_writing_competition.

SEPTEMBER 30 – ANNUAL ACQUISITION ETHICS TRAINING REQUIREMENT

All Army Acquisition Workforce members must complete annual acquisition ethics training by Sept. 30 of each year. For details, read the Army DACM’s October 2022 policy titled “Mandatory Annual Ethics Training for the Army Acquisition Workforce for Fiscal Year 2023,” at

 https://asc.army.mil/web/dacm-memorandum-fy23-ethics-training-policy-11-october-2022-1.

CONTINUOUS LEARNING POINT REQUIREMENT

In accordance with DOD and Department of the Army policy, AAW professionals are required to complete at least 80 Continuous Learning Points (CLPs) by the end of each two-year Continuous Learning (CL) cycle; with the goal of completing 40 CLPs annually. The current CL cycle dates are Oct.1, 2022 through Sept. 30, 2024.

The Army DACM Office has developed a glide path that identifies a recommended minimum CLP threshold to be attained by the end of each fiscal quarter within the two-year CL cycle. The recommended CL glide path is as follows:

REQUESTING YOUR FEEDBACK – ACQUISITION LEADER ASSESSMENT PROGRAM (ALAP)
The fiscal year 2025 Centralized Selection List Board has closed, and the Acquisition Leader Assessment Program (ALAP) invitees have been publicly announced. ALAP25, to be executed in October, is a focused battery of interviews, screenings and assessments designed to determine an individual’s readiness for command, while identifying their underlying strengths and weaknesses in several behavioral domains. Peer and subordinate feedback are vital to an individual and selection board to help them truly understand the invitee’s strengths and weaknesses as a workforce professional and as a leader. The anonymous feedback survey takes 10 to 15 minutes to complete. Please be on the lookout for correspondence requesting you to complete this survey. Not everyone will receive one, but we are requesting full compliance from those who do. For more information on ALAP, visit:

ALAP webpage –  Acquisition Leader Assessment Program (ALAP) (army.mil).