By Lt. Mike Randazzo, Air Systems Program Public Affairs Officer

Providing practitioner training, career management, and services to enable the Acquisition, Technology and Logistics (AT&L) community to make smart business decisions and deliver timely and affordable capabilities to the warfighter is the mission of the Defense Acquisition University (DAU).

Recently, a group of Naval Reservists, which included senior officers from the Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) Air Systems Program (ASP), attended a weeklong DAU Intermediate Systems Acquisition Course at Commander Naval Reserve Forces Command in New Orleans. This was the first time that the course was offered to Reservists drilling in acquisition-related billets.

Based in Fort Belvoir, Va., the DAU coordinates the acquisition education and training programs to meet the training requirements of approximately 132,000 DoD AT&L workforce personnel via a network of regional and satellite campuses across the U.S. As the DoD's corporate university for acquisition education, the university sponsors curriculum and instructor training to provide a full range of basic, intermediate, advanced, and assignment-specific courses to support the career goals and professional development of the Defense Department's AT&L workforce.

Titled the ACQ-201B course, the instruction is the second of three required to complete the academic portion of the Defense Acquisition Workforce Improvement Act (DAWIA) Level 2 certification in Program Management. DAWIA Level 2 Certification is critical in certain Naval Reserve communities in order to attain and maintain job related qualifications that mirror that of their active duty counterparts, most of whom are Level 2, or Level 3, certified.

The Naval Reserve Air Systems Program provides qualified and diverse civilian and military experience in operational support of NAVAIR research and development, engineering, program management, logistics, and industrial capability activities. The 650 Naval Reserve officer and enlisted men and women of the ASP train constantly to respond to evolving NAVAIR missions enabling the organization to harvest tangible cost reductions for fleet recapitalization. The ASP is comprised of 32 units that are based in 14 states.

Comprised partly of Aviation Maintenance Duty and Aeronautical Engineering Duty officers, aviation rated enlisted personnel, and other aviation designators, ASP members provide direct operational support for their NAVAIR customers, which have cradle-to-grave acquisition, sustainment, and retirement responsibilities for naval aviation.

Aimed at enhancing and applying their knowledge of the business, technical, and managerial aspects of acquisition, the course raises awareness of the importance of understanding and appreciating the critical role that each functional discipline plays in the acquisition. Attendees also learned how to more effectively participate in integrated product teams and how build on their skills and apply knowledge gained in the introductory course, ACQ 201A, to develop plans and resolve problems.

"As members of the reserve component, our intent in the Air Systems Program for many years was to become interchangeable with the active component regarding skills, experience, and training to support NAVAIR in a time of crisis or war," said course attendee Rear Adm. Richard J. Wallace, who assumed the duties as the new Air Systems Program Director on June 26, 2004.

Wallace, who is the most senior officer in the Air Systems Program and is Chief Scientist for the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center, Charleston, S.C., had previously participated in changing the Defense Acquisition Management policies and provided keen insights into the intent of specific changes.

Reserve participation in this acquisition course underscores NAVAIR's alignment with the Navy’s larger transformation of the entire Naval Reserve Force and the Active, Reserve Integration Plan. "This training will ensure that Reservists are always working on Naval Aviation Enterprise priorities and allow our Naval Reservists to become more capabilities based and measure themselves by our number Fleet Driven Metric – 'Aircraft Ready for Tasking, at reduced cost,'” said Vice Adm. Walter Massenburg, Commander, Naval Air Systems Command.

"In addition to providing curriculum-based training both in the classroom and via the Internet, the DAU fosters professional development through publications, symposia, research and consulting in areas related to the acquisition functions," explained Debbie Schumann, the DAU's Professor of Acquisition Management. Schumann, a member of the instructor team who taught the group in New Orleans, said that this course prepares acquisition professionals to work effectively in integrated product teams by understanding systems acquisition principles and processes.

"I was impressed with the level of knowledge and experience of the students in this class. The reservists were very professional and eager to learn and share with their classmates and team members. Several reservists also hold civilian jobs with defense companies that provided valuable 'contractor perspective' on the DoD acquisition process adding more depth to the class," Schumann added.

"The Air Systems Program has been aggressively pursuing the formal inclusion of our billets into the acquisition workforce," said Lt. Cmdr. Terry Reddaway, Air Systems Program Manager. Currently, about 200 billets program wide are ready for submission to the Director, Acquisition Career Management once the policy authorization message is released. Once this initiative is complete, a higher priority will be stipulated for Reserve Officers occupying identified billets that have been coded.

Additionally, as Full Time Support officers become certified as DAU instructors, the ASP will have the surge capability to conduct additional classes specific to the needs of both the Air Systems Program and the NAVAIR. "In the future, as a group of ASP officers require a specific course an effort can be made to convene one of these special classes to meet training requirements," Reddaway said.

To date, instructor personnel have been identified and will be team-teaching for class certification over the next four months. While the initial team teaching is underway, the ASP will build a comprehensive DAWIA database to clearly define class requirements that will drive DAU course scheduling.

"Additionally, the plan would include working with DAU course managers to break down instructional modules into shorter increments that would enable Reservists to complete training as part of their scheduled drill periods," said Capt. Duane Mallicoat, the Operational Support Officer for NAVAIR.

"Having this in-house teaching capability is vital to helping the ASP provide better support to the NAVAIR mission and to shaping an ASP Reserve work force that is more seamlessly integrated with our civilian and active duty counterparts," Massenburg added.

For more information on the DAU please check out their Web site at www.dau.mil. For more information on the Air Systems Program, please contact Lt. Mike Randazzo via e-mail at [email protected].