Analyses of the Department of Defense Acquisition Workforce: Update to Methods and Results Through FY 2017

Abstract

The defense acquisition workforce (AW), which included about 165,000 military and civilian personnel as of the end of fiscal year (FY) 2017, is responsible for providing a wide range of acquisition, technology, and logistics support for products and services to the nation's warfighters. For decades, the AW has received attention from policymakers seeking to improve the defense acquisition process - to ensure that it delivers high-quality, technologically superior goods and services to the military on schedule and at a fair price to taxpayers. The Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment (USD[A and S]), and previously the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics (USD[AT and L]) prior to the reorganization of AT and L effective February 2018, is responsible for U.S. Department of Defense (DoD)wide strategic human capital management for the AW. A and S's Office of Human Capital Initiatives (HCI) supports DoD human capital strategies and has directed deployment of a comprehensive workforce analysis capability to facilitate enterprise-wide and component assessments of the AW. RAND aids in this effort by providing ongoing updates on workforce gains and losses, as well as targeted analyses of specific topics of interest. This report provides updates and improvements to the information presented in two previous RAND reports: Gates et al. (2008), which included data through FY 2006, and Gates et al. (2013), which included data through FY 2011. This report describes how our workforce analysis methodology has evolved over time. The data sources and original methods are described in our prior published reports. In addition, we present a descriptive overview of the AW as of the end of FY 2017, discuss changes to the AW since we began providing workforce analysis to DoD more than a decade ago, and describe the characteristics of recent cohorts of civilian AW personnel.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 2018
Accession Number
AD1086290

Entities

People

  • Brian Phillips
  • Elizabeth Roth
  • Joyce S. Marks
  • Michael H. Powell
  • Susan M. Gates

Organizations

  • RAND Corporation

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical
  • Human Systems
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Attrition
  • Business Administration
  • Civilian Personnel
  • Computer Programming
  • Congress
  • Employment
  • Enlisted Personnel
  • Governments
  • Information Systems
  • Law
  • Management Personnel
  • Military Acquisition
  • Military Personnel
  • National Security
  • Organizational Structure
  • Personnel Management
  • Systems Engineering

Readers

  • Defense Acquisition Program Management