Several months back, I shared information on key product support statutes. For those who may not be familiar with them, wanted to circle back to highlight several other key supporting statutes specifically focusing on acquisition workforce and our professional excellence. They include:

• 10 U.S.C. §1746. Defense Acquisition University. This statute established the DAU structure to provide for professional educational development and training of the acquisition workforce; and research and analysis of defense acquisition policy issues from an academic perspective.
• 10 U.S.C. §1721. Designation of acquisition positions. This statute requires the Secretary of Defense to designate in regulations those positions in the Department of Defense that are acquisition positions, including (life cycle) logistics, among eleven other specified functional communities.
• 10 U.S.C. §1706. Government performance of certain acquisition functions. This statute states that it shall be the goal of the Department of Defense and each of the military departments to ensure that, for each major defense acquisition program and each major automated information system program that a series of 13 designated positions (including the “program lead product support manager”) are performed by a properly qualified member of the armed forces or full-time employee of the Department of Defense. It also requires the Secretary of Defense to “develop and implement a plan of action for recruiting, training, and ensuring appropriate career development of military and civilian personnel”
• 10 U.S.C. §1723. General education, training, and experience requirements. This statute requires the Secretary of Defense to establish education, training, and experience requirements for each acquisition position, based on the level of complexity of duties carried out in the position. It goes on to specify that in “establishing such requirements, the Secretary shall ensure the availability and sufficiency of training in all areas of acquisition, including additional training courses with an emphasis on services contracting, market research strategies (including assessments of local contracting capabilities), long-term sustainment strategies (emphasis added), information technology, and rapid acquisition.”
• 10 U.S.C. §1733. Critical acquisition positions. This statute establishes requirements for critical acquisition positions (CAPs).