Defense Acquisition Workforce: Better Identification, Development, and Oversight Needed for Personnel Involved in Acquiring Services
Abstract
Congress passed the Defense Acquisition Workforce Improvement Act (DAWIA) in 1990 to address issues related to workforce quality, to formally establish the acquisition workforce, and to increase its professionalism by directing DOD to create certification requirements for the acquisition workforce. In response, DOD defined its acquisition workforce, which evolved into the 16 career fields and paths that currently exist. According to DAU officials, this definition is still evolving. For each of the career fields and paths that DOD established, there are minimum requirements for education, experience, and training under DAWIA. The DAWIA workforce numbered 133,103 at the end of fiscal year 2009 and 150,566 at the end of March 2011. In 2010, DOD developed a Defense Acquisition Workforce Improvement Strategy to establish a comprehensive acquisition workforce analysis and decision-making capability that is still ongoing. The workforce analysis is focused on the DAWIA workforce and does not cover non-DAWIA personnel with acquisition-related responsibilities despite recognition of the important roles they play in acquiring services in the federal government. The number of personnel and roles on services acquisitions can vary greatly. With the exception of DAWIA-certified contracting officers, who administer services acquisitions and are involved throughout the life cycle of a contract, other professionals do fall outside of DAWIA. A model of the services acquisition process is demonstrated in figure 1 below along with the roles of personnel who may be involved in the various stages throughout the life cycle of services acquisitions.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 01, 2011
- Accession Number
- ADA549599
Entities
Organizations
- United States Government Accountability Office