Acquisition Management

In response to continuing concerns about the Pentagon's ability to effectively manage acquisition programs, Congress passed legislation requiring the Defense Department (DOD) to establish an acquisition work force with specific experience, education, and training qualifications. DOD must (1) establish a management structure and policies and regulations for implementing the law, (2) establish qualification requirements, (3) train and educate personnel to meet the requirements, and (4) enhance civilian opportunities to progress to senior acquisition positions. This report evaluates DOD's implementation efforts through January 1993.

GAO found that: (1) DOD has established an acquisition workforce management structure and issued implementing policies and regulations as required by the act; (2) DOD has identified and designated 127,000 acquisition workforce positions, but the process of determining specific qualifications of each member of the workforce is time-consuming and delays in the process may lengthen the time individuals take to meet qualification requirements; (3) uncertainties and concerns exist within DOD regarding the intent and implementation of the act's requirement to select the best qualified individual for an acquisition position and ensure that no preference is given to military personnel; (4) administrative and legal concerns have resulted in actions that do not achieve the act's objectives; (5) additional uncertainties exist concerning the act's requirement to substantially increase the proportion of civilians in critical acquisition positions; and (6) DOD is experiencing difficulties in developing the required management information system.

Recommendations

Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.

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