Education & Training

DoD SE Revitalization Initiated in 2003

A key piece of revitalizing Systems Engineering (SE) within the Department of Defense is ensuring that effective SE practices are reflected in the Position Category Descriptions (PCD) and the Education, Training, and Experience Certification Standards for our assigned career fields and paths. This overview has been developed for the Systems Planning, Research Development, and Engineering (SPRDE) Career Field/Systems Engineering (SE) and Program Systems Engineer (PSE) Career Paths and Production, Quality and Manufacturing (PQM) Acquisition Professionals. It provides information to keep members of these Career Field/Paths informed about current and emerging DoD policy and to help them meet the Acquisition Workforce certification standards.

New SPRDE/SE Curriculum

In October 2003, an Education and Training Summit found that while SE processes were sound, their application in acquisition programs was often lacking in rigor.  Among other initiatives, the Director, DS/SE, (now SSE/ED) issued a directive to re-baseline the SE competencies and curriculum for the SPRDE/SE career path.  The SPRDE/SE FIPT, working with the Institute for Defense Analysis, developed almost 200 learning outcomes to serve as a basis for the new curriculum.  The new curriculum was structured to focus on the 16 DoD SE processes at Level I, 5 SE phases at Level II, and leadership and management skills at Level III.  From August 2004 until February 2007, DAU developed four new courses:  SYS 101, SYS 202, SYS 203, and SYS 302.

SPRDE Career Field Restructured in FY07

Based on the new SYS curriculum and the FIPT Chair’s proposal to enhance certification requirements, the SPRDE/SE FIPT began revising certification standards and Position Category Descriptions.  A proposal was vetted to create an additional career path to provide maximum flexibility in implementing the new standards.  The original Systems Engineering Career Path would retain the 1, 2, and 4 years of experience (for Levels I, II, and III respectively) and similar certification standards.  The additional career path would encompass 2, 4, and 8 years of experience (for Levels I, II, and III respectively) and enhanced certification standards.  The Acquisition Workforce Senior Steering Board accepted this proposal in August 2006 and the implementation details were worked out and finalized in an agreement reached in February 2007 to implement the SPRDE-Program Systems Engineer career path.

Note: In 2001, the SPRDE Career Field was redefined as having two career paths with two separate Functional Advisors (the Systems Engineer and the Science and Technology Manager Career Paths) due to the assimilation of the Science and Technology Managers into the acquisition workforce. The Science and Technology Manager Career Path Functional Advisor is the Director, Plans and Programs, in the Director, Defense Research and Engineering organization.