Defense Workforce: Steps Needed to Identify Acquisition Training Needs for Non-Acquisition Personnel [Reissued with revisions on Oct. 2, 2019.]
Fast Facts
DOD spends billions of dollars acquiring products and services. DOD's acquisition workforce (e.g., contracting officers) manages this process, but thousands of other DOD employees can be involved. For example, pilots are sometimes asked to oversee aircraft contracts.
We found DOD has identified some of the non-acquisition personnel performing certain acquisition-related duties, but has not made as much progress identifying those involved in services acquisitions. DOD also has not comprehensively considered the acquisition-related training needs for non-acquisition personnel.
We recommended DOD take steps to address these issues.
An aerial view of the Pentagon.
Reissued with Revisions Oct 02, 2019This report was revised on October 2, 2019 to correct two numbers that had been transposed in the Highlights page figure.
Highlights
What GAO Found
The Department of Defense (DOD) has implemented two of three key initiatives to identify non-acquisition personnel supporting acquisitions. DOD has implemented initiatives to identify non-acquisition personnel who (1) develop requirements, and (2) oversee contracts. However, DOD has not implemented a third initiative to identify non-acquisition personnel contributing to services acquisitions more generally. In fiscal year 2018, DOD obligated $175 billion for contracts for services such as management support and information technology. In April 2016, the DOD Acquisition Executive (DAE) directed a team comprised of representatives from the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Air Force, and the Defense Acquisition University (DAU) to develop a schedule for identifying these personnel by October 2016. However, the team did not complete this task by March 2019, when the current DAE directed the team to focus on other issues, and the DAE has not yet determined who will be responsible for completing this task. As a result, DOD has not established how and when it will identify non-acquisition personnel contributing to services acquisitions, or what policy updates and resources may be necessary to identify them.
DOD does not comprehensively identify non-acquisition personnel's need for acquisition-related training. As a result, the department cannot determine the extent to which it is meeting their needs. All non-acquisition personnel have access to DAU's online training, but many of DAU's more advanced courses are only provided in a classroom setting. DAU prioritizes training acquisition personnel—its primary mission—when delivering the resource-constrained classroom training (see figure).
Average Annual Enrollment in Defense Acquisition University Courses, Fiscal Years 2016 through 2018
DOD policy requires that DOD components provide DAU information about the training needs of non-acquisition personnel as part of the annual budgeting process. However, GAO found that the components only provide DAU this information for acquisition personnel and requirements developers. Without comprehensive information about non-acquisition personnel's acquisition-training needs, DOD cannot determine the extent to which it is meeting those needs.
Why GAO Did This Study
DOD spends hundreds of billions of dollars annually acquiring products and services. Since 1990, Congress and DOD have taken numerous steps to address issues related to the quality of DOD's acquisition workforce, which consists of contracting officers, cost estimators, and personnel in several other career fields. But tens of thousands of others, referred to as non-acquisition personnel, also affect how DOD acquires products and services such as major weapon systems and logistics support. These personnel have a wide range of primary responsibilities, such as piloting aircraft and managing facilities, and they are sometimes directed to perform acquisition-related functions, such as overseeing contracts.
The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018 included a provision for GAO to review steps DOD has taken to ensure non-acquisition personnel receive appropriate acquisition-related training. This report addresses the extent to which DOD can identify (1) non-acquisition personnel supporting acquisitions, and (2) their need for acquisition training. GAO analyzed training data; reviewed policies, guidance, and memorandums; and interviewed personnel from the Office of the Secretary of Defense and the military departments.
Reissued with revisions on Oct. 2, 2019.
This report was revised on October 2, 2019 to correct two numbers that had been transposed in the Highlights page figure.Recommendations
GAO recommends that DOD: (1) designate an official responsible for identifying non-acquisition personnel contributing to services acquisitions, and (2) ensure components provide DAU comprehensive information about non-acquisition personnel training needs. DOD concurred with the recommendations.
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Department of Defense | The Secretary of Defense should ensure that the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment designates an accountable official responsible for (a) developing job specialty descriptions to help identify non-acquisition personnel supporting services acquisitions; and (b) establishing a schedule to identify these personnel. (Recommendation 1) |
DOD concurred with this recommendation but has not yet taken the necessary actions to implement it. In July 2024, we conducted discussions with DOD officials, including those from the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment and the Defense Acquisition University. These officials stated DOD leadership is not currently pursuing the development of job specialty descriptions to help identify non-acquisition personnel supporting services acquisitions. However, they stated that DOD is currently updating its instruction for the acquisition of services, and that these updates may include decentralized responsibilities for the identification of non-acquisition personnel supporting services acquisitions. If this instruction establishes specific officials to hold accountable for identifying these non-acquisition personnel, it may constitute a step towards addressing the intent of our recommendation. The DOD officials stated they expect the updates to the instruction will be complete in late 2025. We continue to believe that DOD should designate one or more officials accountable for identifying non-acquisition personnel supporting services acquisitions, and for establishing a schedule to identify these personnel. Given that roughly half of DOD's contract dollars are spent on services acquisitions, it is important for DOD to ensure that non-acquisition personnel who perform acquisition-related functions on service acquisitions are identified and appropriately trained. We will continue to follow up with DOD to determine if leadership is taking steps to address the intent of our recommendation.
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| Department of Defense | The Secretary of Defense should ensure that the Component Acquisition Executives provide non-acquisition personnel training needs to the Defense Acquisition University as part of the annual planning, programming, budgeting, and execution process. (Recommendation 2) |
DOD concurred with this recommendation. In December 2022, we conducted a discussion with DOD officials, including those from the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment and Defense Acquisition University (DAU), who stated DOD had ensured DAU had met non-acquisition personnel training needs. Following that discussion, the DAU representative provided us with data to show that in the fiscal years since the issuance of our report, DAU has had requisite slots available for non-acquisition personnel to attend relevant training. These data show that DAU has the capacity to meet training needs for non-acquisition personnel. This also shows that DAU is planning and resourcing to meet non-acquisition personnel training needs. DOD has met the intent of this recommendation.
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