Do you know where the requirements for acquisition training courses come from? Have you ever wondered how decisions are made as to what courses are actually taught by DAU? What is the process by which career field competencies are identified and incorporated into DAU courses? Or how career field DAWIA certification requirements are actually established?  

Two key players are your individual Service Director, Acquisition Career Manager (DACM) (for those of you in Defense Agencies, it is called the “4^th Estate DACM”) and of course, the Defense Acquisition University (DAU). The DACM has responsibility for their respective Service’s (or Agency) acquisition workforce, while DAU has responsibility for developing and providing training (and related learning assets) for the workforce. The DAU President is also responsible to the Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics (AT&L) for acquisition workforce human capital strategic planning. Responsibilities of both DAU and the DACMs are outlined in several key documents available from the DoD Acquisition Workforce Career Management Home Page, including DoD Directive 5000.52, DoD Instruction 5000.55, DoD Instruction 5000.66, and the AT&L Workforce Desk Guide.

However there are two other critically important organizations in this process. The first is the Functional Leader (FL) and the second is the Functional Integrated Process Team (FIPT). The FIPT serves as the advisory body to the functional leader, and membership includes both career field functional and DACM representatives from across the Services, agencies, DAU, and other key stakeholders. For the Life Cycle Logistics community, this includes representatives from the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, DAU, DLA, DISA, and DCMA, as well as the National Guard Bureau, USTRANSCOM, USSOCOM, Joint Staff J4, and the Office of the Secretary of Defense.

This team meets regularly throughout the year, reviewing career field competencies, DAU courseware, and workforce professional development and human capital initiatives. Among their specific responsibilities, our FIPT supports the Functional Leader in carrying out his responsibilities, provides stakeholder input into Life Cycle Logistics workforce learning asset and training requirements, Defense Acquisition Workforce Improvement Act (DAWIA) certification standards, and professional development, and provides the Life Cycle Logistics Functional Leader with information, perspectives, and recommendations to guide decisions related to DoD Life Cycle Logistics workforce. The FIPT also serves as forum for cross-cutting life cycle logistics initiatives, lessons learned, and issues of mutual interest, provides a forum for sharing information and best practices across the DoD Life Cycle Logistics community, and provides recommendations for cross-functional/inter-disciplinary collaboration and integration.

The individual FIPT representatives are all subject matter experts who not only represent your interests as Life Cycle Logisticians, but seek to advance the state of the practice of this career field by providing insights and recommendations to both the functional leader and to DAU. The LCL FIPT is a cohesive, collaborative, and productive team that ultimately seeks to ensure your professional development and DAWIA certification training is absolutely the very best it can possibly be.

In my next blog post, I’ll share additional information on the responsibilities of the Life Cycle Logistics Functional Leader.