Wanted to pass on an important professional development announcement from our Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) staff colleagues. According to a new February 23, 2023 Assistant Secretary of Defense for Sustainment memorandum, the Department of Defense is currently soliciting nominations for the prestigious Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) 2023-24 Sustainment Fellowship Program, which will commence in July 2023.

The Office of the Secretary of Defense for Sustainment Fellowship Program “…is a one-year-, on-site, hands-on leadership and management development program…designed to develop mid-level sustainment and engineering professionals in military O-4/O-5 and civilian GS-13/GS-14 (or AcqDemo equivalent) grades who have demonstrated significant potential for advancement and greater responsibility in their career field.

According to the memo, “…OSD Sustainment Fellows will be integrated into one of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense (DASD) offices within the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Sustainment (ASD(S)) or ASD for Energy, Installations, and Environment (ASD(EI&E)) portfolios”, including DASD Materiel Readiness (MR), Product Support (PS), Logistics (LOG), among others.

Additionally, “the OSD Sustainment Fellowship Program provides significant departmental and interagency experience”, with participants “interacting regularly with senior OSD and Service Sustainment officials, other government agencies, and industry/industrial associations.” A “OSD Sustainment Fellows may be matched with one of several functional area such as life cycle logistics, maintenance, supply, deployment and distribution (transportation), operational contract support, vendor vetting…legislative strategy, strategic communication, Financial Improvement and Audit Readiness (FIAR), and acquisition program management.”

Details about the sustainment fellowship program and criteria for submission are available on the ASD Sustainment website. Nominations are due by March 24, 2023. Selection announcement will follow in mid-April 2023, with selectees in place for one-year from July 2023 – June 2024.

Although the OSD Sustainment Fellowship Program has subsequently expanded from Logistics to more broadly-based sustainment focus, encourage interested candidates to check out an informative 2016 article entitled “The OSD Logistics Fellows Program: A Glimpse from Inside“ for insights from a previous graduate of the program.