Defense Systems Acquisition Management Course

Important Note

All course materials and handouts will be provided to students on CD ROM.  Please bring a laptop computer that is equipped with a CD ROM with you to the class.  If you do not have access to a laptop, please contact the respective meeting planner as soon as possible.  There will be a limited number of laptops available for use through NDIA, so please call early.

Overview

The Defense Systems Acquisition Management course meets the needs of defense industry program managers in today's dynamic environment, providing the latest information related to:

• Defense acquisition policy for weapons and information technology systems including discussion of the DoD 5000 series (directive, instruction, and guidebook).
  
  
• Defense acquisition and reform and initiatives.
  
  
• Defense acquisition procedures and processes.
  
  
• The Planning, Programming, Budgeting, and Execution process, and the Congressional budget process.
  
  
• The relationship between capability needs determination, resource allocation, science and technology activities, and acquisition programs.

Taught by the Defense Acquisition University (DAU) professors and other guest speakers, the course uses the same acquisition policy information provided to DoD students who attend DAU courses for formal acquisition certification.

Target Audience: Industry program managers, assistant program managers, systems engineers, industry personnel serving on DoD Integrated Product Teams, and other personnel that must interface with DoD program offices involved in program development and execution. The result of successful completion of this course is a comprehensive understanding of the environment and driving forces affecting program managers which will significantly increase awareness and effectiveness in dealing with programmatic issues. The course is also open to a limited number of government mid- to upper-level managers, tuition free. Government personnel may apply the DSAM course towards fulfillment of government continuous learning (CL) points. DSAM counts for 34 CL points, or 3.4 Continuous Education Units (CEU).

Course of Instruction
Management in the Acquisition Environment

The first block of instruction will identify the major participants in the DoD acquisition process and their roles. It will cover the 3 DoD decision support sectors (JCIDS, DAMS, and PPBE) that comprise the DoD acquisition process.

Acquisition Life Cycle Process

This block will focus on the objectives, responsibilities, activities, interrelationships, and concerns of each phase of the system acquisition life cycle. This includes research and development, program initiation, and the transition from development to production. Instruction will cover the DoD 5000 series (directive, instruction, and guidebook).

Challenges to Program Management

This block covers diverse topics that are critical to the success of the DoD program manager. Students working in assigned teams will research and analyze these topics and will culminate in a short presentation to the entire class.

Application of Acquisition Procedures

This portion of instruction covers the specific application of the acquisition procedures  and the management issues currently facing the DoD program manager. The course will end with a detailed case study where participants develop an acquisition strategy using a program structure chart reflecting an instructor assigned acquisition scenario to carry an acquisition program through its entire life cycle.

Faculty
Defense Acquisition University

Ms. Karen Byrd, Professor, Systems Acquisition Management; Learning Center Capabilities Integration Center Learning Asset Program Manager; DSAM Course Manager; 22 years DoD civilian; DAWIA Level III Program Management and Contracting.

Mr. Gary Hagan, Professor, Systems Acquisition Management, Course Manager, Program Management Office Course (PMT-352); 23 years military, 19 years civilian; DAWIA Level III Program Management, Systems Planning, Research, Development, and Engineering, and Life Cycle Logistics.

Mr. Larry Leggett, Professor, Systems Acquisition Management; Performance Learning Director, Program Management Certification Courses, Learning Capabilities Integration Center; 29 years military, 5 years civilian, 4 years DoD civilian; DAWIA Level III Program Management.

Class Size

Plan ahead! The class is limited to 42 students, and registrations are accepted on a first paid, first enrolled basis.

Attendance

This intense 4-1/2 day seminar presents current government acquisition programs and requirements and, through guided student interaction and team exercises, applies them to the realities of industry operations. In order for you to gain maximum benefit from this course and for others to gain from various perspectives and experience, all students are expected to fully participate in all scheduled course activities.  Therefore all travel arrangements should be made so that students are present until the course ends at 12:00 noon on Friday. Absences up to 2 hours may be granted with prior approval from the NDIA POC/DAU Instructors. Course completion certificates will not be provided to students missing more than 2 hours of the course.