Taking Acquisition Training to the Next Level: The Space Acquisition Community Tackles the Guardian Challenge

Abstract

The Space and Missile Center (SMC) showed its acquisition mettle in late April of this year during an intensive two-and-a-half day event called the Guardian Challenge. Two years ago, Air Force Space Command (AFSC) expanded its Guardian Challenge program (largely an operational-centric scenario-based exercise designed to test personnel's inherent leadership and functional expertise) to the acquisition community. AFSC's Headquarters felt all command-wide personnel should have an opportunity to demonstrate their talents -- not only the operators but also the acquirers who deliver the crucial operational systems. Surprisingly, the space acquisition community previously lacked a competition exercise that tested them in the field. SMC, joining in the Guardian Challenge again, selected six four-person teams to compete for the coveted distinction of first place in the challenge. Each of the six teams -- composed of captains/majors and equivalent-ranking civilian government personnel -- had members experienced in various levels of Defense Acquisition Workforce Improvement Act certifications. Program management, systems engineering, budgeting, cost estimating, and contracting were well represented. Planning for the event actually started a couple of months earlier, when two key partners, the Defense Acquisition University (DAU) and SMC, teamed up to produce a real-world challenge facing the space community today: how to best satisfy a shortage in satellite communications bandwidth. There were three viable satellite materiel options: Option 1: Hosted payload on a commercial satellite (e.g., sharing space with other planned payloads); Option 2: Dedicated pay-for-service commercial satellite; and Option 3: Leased pay-for-service commercial satellite with an option to buy.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Oct 01, 2010
Accession Number
ADA530537

Entities

People

  • Robert L. Tremaine

Organizations

  • Defense Acquisition University

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Space

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Acquisition
  • Air Force
  • Air Force Facilities
  • Aircrafts
  • Artifacts
  • Artificial Satellites
  • Command And Control
  • Communities
  • Department Of Defense
  • Engineering
  • Governments
  • Lessons Learned
  • Military Acquisition
  • Program Management
  • Rules Of Engagement
  • Systems Engineering
  • Training

Readers

  • Defense Acquisition Program Management
  • Military History of the United States in the 20th Century.
  • Team-Based Human-Centered Cognitive Task Decision Making and Information Performance.

Technology Areas

  • Space
  • Space - Satellites