# Defense Acquisition University

The Defense Acquisition University (DAU) is a corporate university of the United States Department of Defense offering "acquisition, technology, and logistics" (AT&L) training to military and Federal civilian staff and Federal contractors. DAU is headquartered in Fort Belvoir, Virginia, and is accredited by the American Council on Education (ACE), International Association for Continuing Education and Training (IACET) and the Council on Occupational Education (COE).

## History

The University Charter was created in October 1991 by Department of Defense (DoD) Directive 5000.57. Originally a loose consortium of existing training commands, DAU worked to standardize the training courses and establish mechanisms that allowed for centralized management of training funds for the DoD workforce.
In the late 1990s, the consortium arrangement was replaced by a centralized structure, more like that of a corporate university. By 2014, DAU had grown to the point of graduating 181,970 students.

### Leadership

DAU was headed by a Commandant until the year 2000 when it became a civilian institution, and since then the chief executive position has the title "President." DAU's Commandants and Presidents have included William L. Vincent (1991–1993), Claude M. Bolton (1993–1996), Richard A. Black (1996–1997), Leonard Vincent (1997–1999), Frank J. Anderson (1999–2010), Katrina McFarland (2011–2012), James P. Woolsey (2013–2024), and Bilyana Anderson (2024–Present).

## Locations

DAU is headquartered at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, and serves the approximately 160,000 members of the defense acquisition workforce. DAU also has several other locations across the United States as well an online presence. These locations include:
* DAU Capital and Northeast, located at Fort Belvoir, provides services to The Pentagon and Washington DC Department of Defense agencies, and acquisition& sustainment organizations throughout the Northeast. It serves a workforce of about 35,000 people.
* Defense Systems Management College, also located at Ft Belvoir, on the same campus as the Capital and Northeast Region
* DAU Mid-Atlantic, located in California, Maryland (near the Patuxent River Naval Air Station)
* DAU South, in Huntsville, Alabama on Redstone Arsenal, serving 41,000+ members
* DAU Midwest, located in Kettering, Ohio (just outside Wright-Patterson Air Force Base), serving 25,000+ members
* DAU West in San Diego, serving 30,013 people (as of 2021)
* Various satellite locations at major military commands

## Admissions and costs

Applicants must have a current affiliation with the United States government in order to attend training courses offered by DAU. The United States Military Services and the DoD have internal registration and quotas for DAU instructor-led courses, while the Federal Acquisition Institute (FAI) accepts applications and registers most non-DoD students.
U.S. Federal employees and defense contractors may attend DAU courses at no cost when space is available, and may enroll in DAU's Defense acquisition credential learning pathways, and in online courses. DAU charges tuition only to certain foreign students.

## Training and certificates

The Defense Acquisition Workforce Improvement Act (DAWIA) requires Defense Acquisition Workforce members to be certified for the positions they hold. DAU offers training courses for all Defense Acquisition Workforce members in 7 functional areas and at three certification levels.
Functional Areas:
* Auditing
* Business:
** Financial Management
** Cost Estimating
* Contracting
* Engineering and Technical Management
* Life Cycle Logistics
* Program Management
* Test and Evaluation
The American Council on Education (ACE) assigns ACE credits to various DAU courses. DAU coursework can apply toward college and university degrees and certificates at some partner institutions.

### Defense Acquisition Guide

The Defense Acquisition Guidebook (DAG) is a text developed to aid in the understanding and implementation of United States Department of Defense Acquisition practices under the DoD Directive 5000 series. This text, also available in web-accessed electronic format and web-structured HTML basis (see https://aaf.dau.edu/guidebooks/) provides insight to a life cycle view and functional roles within the lifecycle of acquisitions.
In 2002 the DOD 5000.2-R became the Interim Defense Acquisition Guidebook.

## Mission assistance

DAU instructors are available to consult and assist acquisition organizations in the design and review of processes and internal training when they are not teaching. They can also provide workshops and specific topic instruction in areas of interest or concern tailored to a specific organization.

## Hacking incident

In July 2011 a hacking incident occurred affecting DAU's Web-based training site. This incident occurred on a vendor's network that provided the learning management system's underlying source code and inhibited access to online courses for almost two months. While DAU was not hacked, U.S. Cyber Command (U.S. CYBERCOM) evaluated the risk level to DAU's system based on the incident that occurred on the vendor's network, and temporarily suspended online training courses to secure the system and protect students' personal information.