Wanted to call your attention to a series of articles of engaging, timely, and relevant acquisition-related articles of interest in the latest (March-April 2014) issue of the Defense AT&L Magazine. They include:

·         What Does It Mean to Be “a Defense Acquisition Professional”?  From the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics

·         Schedule or Event Driven? How Do I Know? Although clear in theory, the distinction between event- and schedule-driven pro­grams often becomes blurred in practice. Program managers can avoid the negative consequences of the latter by recognizing indicators of schedule-driven behavior.

·         What Happened to DT&E?  A robust developmental test and evaluation effort will improve acquisition outcomes by finding and fixing problems in a timely manner.

·         Let’s Fix this Red Program! Program managers assigned to fix a troubled, or Red, program can take heart: the job is doable.

·         Threat Support Improvement for DoD Acquisition Programs The mandated increase in System Threat Assessment Reports requires modification of the production methodology to improve efficiency and decisional value.

·         Cyber Acquisition Professionals Need Expertise (But They Don’t Necessarily Need to Be Experts) As information technology advances rapidly and poses greater implementation problems, the possession of more general expertise becomes increasingly valuable.

·         Just in Time: Expecting Failure: Do JIT Principles Run Counter to DoD’s Business Nature? Just in Time inventory management offers well-known advantages, but mitigating its risks for an “in extremis” profession like warfighting requires more attention.

·         What’s in Your Estimate at Completion? Program managers need a deep understanding of the Estimate at Completion in order to troubleshoot problems and answer questions from the stakeholders who use it.

·         Bombs and Books: Building a Better Air Force Military Acquirer Mandating operational exchanges, expanding educational opportunities, and requiring program management or professional engineer certification would improve the development of Air Force acquisition officers.

·         The Fate of Sgt. Smith: Restriction on Non-DoD Conference Travel The restriction on non-DoD conference attendance hampers the translation of fundamental research into applied research that will benefit the Services.

·         IDEAA Celebrates Its Silver Anniversary The International Defense Educational and Acquisition Arrangement will hold its annual seminar at DAU (Fort Belvoir campus)

Articles can be accessed individually or in a downloadable PDF version of entire magazine. Encourage you to check them out!