The SSA Directorate has the lead within the Office of the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense, Acquisition and Technology (ODUSD(A&T)) for all matters pertaining to software engineering (SwE) and system assurance (SA). SSA serves as the champion for DoD SwE and SA policy and practice and ensures their application. SSA provides SwE/SA expertise to support assessments of Defense acquisition programs, providing technical insight to leadership for decision making regarding SwE/SA. SSA also serves as the direct source of support to acquisition program offices for SwE/SA lessons learned and best practices.