Accessible Version

DEFENSE 

ACQUISITION 

WORKFORCE

Actions Needed to 

Guide Planning Efforts 

and Improve 

Workforce Capability

Report to Congressional Committees

December 2015

GAO-16-80

United States Government Accountability Office
United States Government Accountability Office

Highlights of GAO-16-80, a report to 

congressional committees 

December 2015

DEFENSE ACQUISITION WORKFORCE

Actions Needed to Guide Planning Efforts and 

Improve Workforce Capability

Why GAO Did This Study

GAO and others have found that DOD

needs to take steps to ensure DOD 

has an adequately sized and capable

acquisition workforce to acquire about 

$300 billion in goods and services 

annually. DOD is required by statute to 

develop an acquisition workforce plan

every 2 years. DOD issued a plan in 

2010, in which it called for the 

department to increase the size of the 

acquisition workforce by 20,000 

positions by fiscal year 2015, but has 

not yet updated the plan.

Congress included a provision in 

statute for GAO to review DOD’s 

acquisition workforce plans. In the 

absence of an updated plan, this report 

examines DOD’s efforts to (1) increase 

the size of its acquisition workforce, (2) 

identify workforce competencies and 

mitigate any skill gaps, and (3) plan for 

future workforce needs. GAO analyzed 

current and projected DOD workforce, 

budget, and career field data; reviewed

completed competency assessments; 

and obtained insights on workforce 

challenges from the largest acquisition 

commands within the Army, Navy and 

Air Force. 

What GAO Recommends

GAO recommends that DOD complete 

the remaining competency 

assessment, establish time frames for 

conducting follow-up assessments, 

issue an updated acquisition workforce 

plan, and issue guidance to prioritize 

the use of funding. DOD concurred 

with GAO’s recommendations.

What GAO Found

The Department of Defense (DOD) has increased the size of its acquisition 

workforce from about 126,000 in September 2008 to about 153,000 in March 

2015. The growth was accomplished by hiring additional civilian personnel, 

insourcing work previously performed by contractors, adding more military 

personnel, and re-categorizing existing positions. However, 6 of the 13 

acquisition career fields, including 3 priority career fields—contracting, business

and engineering—did not meet growth goals.

Difference in Planned and Actual Growth in Five DOD Priority Career Fields from September 

2008 to March 2015. 

DOD has completed workforce competency assessments for 12 of the 13 

acquisition career fields and added training classes to address some skill gaps. It 

is unclear the extent to which skill gaps remain, in part because 10 of the career 

fields have not conducted follow-up competency assessments to gauge 

progress. DOD has not established time frames for doing so. Office of Personnel 

Management standards state that identifying skill gaps and monitoring progress 

towards addressing gaps are essential steps for effective human capital 

management.

DOD has not updated its acquisition workforce plan, which would allow it to be 

better positioned to meet future needs. GAO’s analysis of DOD budget 

information indicates that many career fields will continue to be significantly over 

or under the growth goals DOD established in 2010, especially in priority career 

fields such as contracting and engineering. In the past, some hiring decisions 

made by DOD components using the Defense Acquisition Workforce 

Development Fund exceeded initial 2010 career field targets. In addition, over 

the past 7 years, about 2,700 personnel, or 26 percent of those hired with these 

funds, were in career fields that were not considered high priority in the 2010 

acquisition workforce plan. An updated plan that includes revised career field 

goals, coupled with guidance on how to use the Defense Acquisition Workforce 

Development Fund, could help DOD components focus future hiring efforts on 

priority career fields. Without an integrated approach, the department is at risk of 

using the funds to hire personnel in career fields that currently exceed their 

View GAO-16-80. For more information, targets or are not considered a priority. 

contact Timothy J. DiNapoli at (202) 512-4841 

or DiNapoliT@gao.gov.
Letter 1

Page i GAO-16-80 Defense Acquisition Workforce

Background 4

DOD Exceeded Its Overall Acquisition Workforce Growth Goal, 

but Shortfalls Exist in Several Career Fields 8

DOD Has Completed Most Workforce Assessments, but Has 

Limited Data on Workforce Proficiency and Skill Gaps 16

DOD Has Not Issued an Updated Acquisition Workforce Strategy 

or Guidance on Workforce Funds to Focus Future Hiring 

Decisions 21

Conclusions 28

Recommendations for Executive Action 29

Agency Comments and Our Evaluation 30

Appendix I: Comments from the Department of Defense 33

Appendix II: GAO Contact and Staff Acknowledgments 36

Appendix III: Accessible Data 37

Agency Comment Letter 37

Data Tables 40

Related GAO Products 43

Tables

Table 1: Roles and Responsibilities of Key DOD Players in 

Strategic Workforce Planning, Budgeting, and Training 6

Table 2: Defense Acquisition Workforce Oversight Boards 7

Data Table for Highlights Figure: Difference in Planned and Actual 

Growth in Five DOD Priority Career Fields from 

September 2008 to March 2015. 40

Data Table for Figure 1: Defense Acquisition Workforce Size by 

Component between September 2008 and March 2015 41

Data Table for Figure 2: Sources of Defense Acquisition 

Workforce Growth, September 2008 through September 

201441

Data Table for Figure 3: Acquisition Workforce Demographics, 

Fiscal Years 2008 and 2014 41

Data Table for Figure 4: Difference between Planned and Actual 

Career Field Growth between September 2008 and March 

201541

Contents
Text for Figure 5: Process Used by the Department of Defense to 

Assess Skill Gaps 42

Data Table for Figure 6: Difference between Current Career Field 

Growth and Projected Changes through Fiscal Year 2020 42

Figures

Page ii GAO-16-80 Defense Acquisition Workforce

Figure 1: Defense Acquisition Workforce Size by Component 

between September 2008 and March 2015 9

Figure 2: Sources of Defense Acquisition Workforce Growth, 

September 2008 through September 2014 10

Figure 3: Acquisition Workforce Demographics, Fiscal Years 2008 

and 2014 13

Figure 4: Difference between Planned and Actual Career Field 

Growth between September 2008 and March 2015 15

Figure 5: Process Used by the Department of Defense to Assess 

Skill Gaps 17

Figure 6: Difference between Current Career Field Growth and 

Projected Changes through Fiscal Year 2020 23
Page iii GAO-16-80 Defense Acquisition Workforce

Abbreviations 

DOD Department of Defense

This is a work of the U.S. government and is not subject to copyright protection in the 

United States. The published product may be reproduced and distributed in its entirety 

without further permission from GAO. However, because this work may contain 

copyrighted images or other material, permission from the copyright holder may be 

necessary if you wish to reproduce this material separately.
Page 1 GAO-16-80 Defense Acquisition Workforce

441 G St. N.W.

Washington, DC 20548

December 14, 2015

Congressional Committees

The acquisition workforce of the Department of Defense (DOD) must be 

able to effectively award and administer contracts totaling more than $300 

billion annually. The contracts may be for major weapon systems, support 

for military bases, consulting services, and commercial items, among 

others. A skilled acquisition workforce is vital to maintaining military 

readiness, increasing the department’s buying power, and achieving 

substantial long-term savings through systems engineering and 

contracting activities.

During the 1990s, as defense budgets decreased, DOD reduced the size 

of its military and civilian acquisition workforce and by the early 2000s 

began relying more heavily on contractors to perform many acquisition 

support functions. DOD reported that between 1998 and 2008, the 

number of military and civilian personnel performing acquisition activities 

decreased 14 percent from about 146,000 to about 126,000 personnel. 

Amid concerns about the skill gaps within the military and civilian 

workforce and the growing reliance on contractors, the Secretary of 

Defense announced his intention in April 2009 to rebalance the workforce 

mix. DOD issued an acquisition workforce plan in April 2010 that specified 

DOD would add 20,000 military and civilian personnel to its workforce by 

fiscal year 2015 through hiring actions and converting contractor positions 

to civilian or military positions. The 2010 acquisition workforce plan also 

identified growth targets for each of DOD’s 13 acquisition career fields 

and included a process for assessing workforce competencies.

This report examines DOD’s efforts to rebuild its acquisition workforce. 

We began this work in response to Section 1108 of the National Defense 

Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010, which, as amended, requires DOD 

to develop a strategy for improving DOD’s civilian workforce, including a 

plan specifically for DOD’s military and civilian acquisition workforce, on a 

biennial basis. The legislation also contained a provision for GAO to 

assess plans that DOD was to submit between 2009 and 2012.1 DOD 

 

1National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010, Pub. L. No. 111-84, § 1108(b) 

(1) (2009) (codified as amended at 10 U.S.C. § 115b).

Letter
issued a strategic workforce plan that included an appendix detailing the 

plan for the acquisition workforce in April 2010; accordingly, we assessed 

the plan and issued a report.

Page 2 GAO-16-80 Defense Acquisition Workforce

2 DOD is currently developing an update to 

the April 2010 acquisition workforce plan, but it is uncertain when it will be 

issued. In the absence of an updated plan, we determined the extent to 

which DOD has (1) increased the size of its acquisition workforce; (2) 

identified workforce competencies and mitigated any skill gaps; and (3) 

planned for future workforce needs.

To determine the extent to which DOD has increased the size of its 

acquisition workforce, which consists of both civilian and military 

personnel, we collected acquisition workforce data for fiscal years 2008 

through 2015 from DOD’s DataMart, a central repository of workforce 

data. We analyzed the data to determine whether DOD has met its overall 

and individual career field growth targets and to identify workforce trends. 

Because DOD’s acquisition workforce plan addressed the department’s 

strategy to revitalize its acquisition workforce between fiscal years 2009 

and 2015, we used workforce data from the end of fiscal year 2008 as a 

baseline to conduct our analysis. In most cases we compared fiscal year 

2008 data to March 2015 data. However, in some cases the most current 

data DOD could provide was through the end of fiscal year 2014. We 

noted whether we used fiscal year 2014 or March 2015 data as 

appropriate in the report. To assess the reliability of DOD’s DataMart 

data, we (1) reviewed existing information about the data and the system 

that produced them, (2) reviewed the data for obvious errors in accuracy 

and completeness, and (3) worked with agency officials to identify any 

data problems. When we found discrepancies, we brought them to DOD’s 

attention and worked with DOD officials to correct the discrepancies. We 

also interviewed agency officials knowledgeable about the data. We 

determined that the data were sufficiently reliable for the purposes of our 

report. We interviewed acquisition leaders in each of the military 

departments and other defense agencies, collectively referred to in this 

report as DOD components, to determine how the growth in the 

acquisition workforce was achieved in their respective components.

 

2GAO, Human Capital: Further Actions Needed to Enhance DOD’s Civilian Strategic 

Workforce Plan, GAO-10-814R (Washington, D.C.: September 27, 2010). We have 

conducted a number of other reviews on strategic human capital and DOD workforce 

issues. Selected reports are included in the Related GAO Products section at the end of 

this report.
To determine the progress DOD has made to identify acquisition 

workforce competencies and mitigate any skill gaps, we analyzed all 

competency assessments that had been completed by October 2015. We 

determined if career fields completed the process outlined in DOD’s 2010 

acquisition workforce plan and whether these efforts met the Office of 

Personnel Management’s key principles for assessing the management 

of human capital.

Page 3 GAO-16-80 Defense Acquisition Workforce

3 We also interviewed leaders in six career fields, which 

generally comprise the largest career fields and together make up 73 

percent of the acquisition workforce, to obtain their insights into the 

competency assessment process and challenges. The leaders we 

interviewed were from the business; program management; contracting; 

engineering; production, quality, and manufacturing; and test and 

evaluation career fields. We identified new and revised training classes 

offered by the Defense Acquisition University to address skill gaps, and 

discussed efforts to develop proficiency standards with officials from the 

Defense Acquisition University and the military departments as well as 

some career field leaders.

To determine the extent to which DOD has planned for future workforce 

needs, we analyzed workforce and funding data submitted as a part of 

the fiscal year 2016 president’s budget submission and the planned 

funding levels for the Defense Acquisition Workforce Development Fund 

for fiscal years 2015 through 2020. To assess the reliability of the 

workforce and funding data, we (1) reviewed the data for obvious errors in 

accuracy and completeness; and (2) worked with DOD officials to identify 

any data problems. When we found discrepancies (such as missing data), 

we brought them to DOD’s attention and worked with DOD officials to 

correct the discrepancies. We also interviewed agency officials 

knowledgeable about the data. We determined that the data were 

sufficiently reliable for the purposes of our report. We also met with 

officials at each military department’s largest acquisition command— Air 

Force Materiel Command, Army Materiel Command, and Naval Sea 

Systems Command—to determine the impact growth efforts had on the 

commands and how future workforce needs are determined. Together,

these commands constitute about 42 percent of DOD’s acquisition 

workforce. We also met with representatives from the Under Secretary of 

 

3DOD, Appendix 1, DOD Strategic Human Capital Plan Update, The Defense Acquisition 

Workforce Improvement Strategy (April 2010); and Office of Personnel Management, The 

Human Capital Assessment and Accountability Framework: Systems, Standards, and 

Metrics (March 2006).
Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics’ Human Capital 

Initiatives Directorate to discuss future workforce planning efforts.

We conducted this performance audit from February 2015 to December 

2015 in accordance with generally accepted government auditing 

standards. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to 

obtain sufficient, appropriate evidence to provide a reasonable basis for 

our findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives. We believe 

that the evidence obtained provides a reasonable basis for our findings 

and conclusions based on our audit objectives.

Strategic workforce planning—an integral part of human capital 

management—is an iterative, systematic process that helps organizations 

determine if they have staff with the necessary skills and competencies to 

accomplish their strategic goals. We have previously reported that having 

the right workforce mix with the right skill sets is critical to achieving 

DOD’s mission, and that it is important for DOD, as part of its workforce 

planning, to conduct gap analyses of its critical skills and competencies.

Page 4 GAO-16-80 Defense Acquisition Workforce

4

Since 2001, GAO has included strategic human capital management as a 

government high-risk area.5In 2002, we reported that DOD recognized 

that human capital strategic planning is fundamental to effective overall 

management. Further, we reported that DOD was working to identify and 

address problems that have been hampering this effort, which included a 

lack of accurate, accessible, and current workforce data; mature models 

to forecast future workforce requirements; a link between DOD’s planning 

and budgeting processes; and specific planning guidance.6In 2015, we 

reported that DOD has demonstrated sustained leadership commitment 

to address its acquisition workforce challenges, underscored by the 

department’s emphasis on growing and training the acquisition workforce 

through its Better Buying Power initiatives.7

 

4GAO, Human Capital: DOD Needs Complete Assessments to Improve Future Civilian 

Strategic Workforce Plans, GAO-12-1014 (Washington, D.C.: September 27, 2012).

5GAO, High-Risk Series: An Update, GAO-01-263 (Washington, D.C.: January 2001).

6GAO, Acquisition Workforce: Department of Defense’s Plans to Address Workforce Size 

and Structure Challenges, GAO-02-630 (Washington, D.C.: April 30, 2002). 

7GAO, High-Risk Series: An Update, GAO-15-290 (Washington, D.C.: February 11, 2015). 

Background
As part of our larger body of work examining human capital management 

issues, we and the Office of Personnel Management have identified six 

key principles of strategic workforce planning that organizations should 

incorporate in their processes, including:

· aligning workforce planning with strategic planning and budget 

formulation;

· involving managers, employees, and other stakeholders in planning;

· identifying critical gaps and competencies and analyzing workforce 

gaps;

· developing workforce strategies to address gaps in numbers, skills, 

and competencies;

· building the capabilities needed to support workforce strategies 

through steps that ensure the effective use of human capital 

flexibilities; and

· monitoring and evaluating progress toward achieving workforce 

planning and strategic goals.

Page 5 GAO-16-80 Defense Acquisition Workforce

8

Several offices within DOD play key roles in strategic planning activities, 

such as determining the size and makeup of the acquisition workforce, 

budgeting for the workforce, assessing workforce competencies, and 

addressing skill gaps (see table 1).

 

8GAO, DOD Civilian Workforce: Observations on DOD’s Efforts to Plan for Civilian 

Workforce Requirements. GAO-12-962T (Washington, D.C.: July 26, 2012) and Human 

Capital: Key Principles for Effective Strategic Workforce Planning, GAO-04-39

(Washington, D.C.: December 11, 2003).
Table 1: Roles and Responsibilities of Key DOD Players in Strategic Workforce Planning, Budgeting, and Training

Page 6 GAO-16-80 Defense Acquisition Workforce

Office Primary Responsibilities

Under Secretary of Defense, Personnel and 

Readiness

· Issue guidance on overall personnel management to be used by DOD and 

military departments

· Provide guidance on personnel levels of the components

· Develop personnel mix criteria and other information used by the departments 

to determine their workforce mix

Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller) · Ensure that DOD’s budget is consistent with the total force management 

policies and procedures

Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, 

Technology and Logistics’ Human Capital 

Initiatives Directorate

· Oversee department-wide acquisition workforce strategic planning

· Oversee acquisition workforce education, training, and career development

· Develop policy for the defense acquisition workforce

· Coordinate, implement, and oversee acquisition workforce programs

· Manage the Defense Acquisition Workforce Development Fund

Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, 

Technology and Logistics-Functional Leaders

· Serve as subject matter experts for their respective career fields

· Oversee and maintain education, training, and experience requirements for 

their career fields, including competencies and certification standards

· Establish and oversee functional integrated product teams

Functional Integrated Product Teams

(Membership includes functional leaders, career 

field experts, and representatives from DOD 

military departments and the Defense 

Acquisition University)

· Support the functional leaders in carrying out their responsibilities

· Provide functional leaders with information on DOD’s acquisition workforce, 

including training material and tools

Military department secretaries and defense 

agency heads

· Determine workforce requirements

· Perform planning, programming, and budgeting for total force management 

Director, Acquisition Career Management office 

for each military department and other defense 

agencies

· Serve as the service acquisition executives’ representative in assisting the 

Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics’ Human 

Capital Initiatives Directorate with the execution and oversight of acquisition 

workforce responsibilities within their respective components

· Key advisor for policy, coordination, implementation, and oversight of 

acquisition workforce programs within their respective components 

Defense Acquisition University · Offer training and certification courses to military and civilian personnel in each 

acquisition career field

Source: GAO presentation of DOD data. I GA0-16-80

Pursuant to the Defense Acquisition Workforce Improvement Act, DOD 

identified 13 career fields and designated acquisition-related positions 

held by military or civilian personnel.9 DOD also established certification 

 

9Pub. L. No. 101-510, §§ 1201-1211 (1990) (relevant sections codified as amended at 10 

U.S.C. §§ 1701-1764). The business career field was divided into two career fields in 

2010, cost estimating and financial management. We combined the two career fields 

under the “business” career field throughout the report for consistency.
requirements that included education, training, and experience elements

for each acquisition position. Certification is the procedure through which 

DOD components determine that an employee meets these requirements 

for one of three levels in each acquisition career field.

DOD components fund their acquisition workforce personnel through a 

variety of accounts, including (1) operation and maintenance; (2) 

research, development, test and evaluation; and (3) working capital. 

Additionally, Congress established the Defense Acquisition Workforce 

Development Fund in 2008 to provide funds dedicated to recruiting, 

training, and retaining the acquisition workforce.

Page 7 GAO-16-80 Defense Acquisition Workforce

10 There are two boards 

that oversee acquisition workforce programs, including the Fund and 

related initiatives. The Senior Steering Board is expected to meet 

quarterly and provide strategic oversight, while the Workforce 

Management Group is expected to meet bimonthly and oversee the 

fund’s operations and management (see table 2).

Table 2: Defense Acquisition Workforce Oversight Boards

Board Members Board responsibilities

Senior Steering Board · Chaired by the Under Secretary of Defense 

for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics

· The Director of Human Capital Initiatives is 

the Executive Secretary

· Members include senior leaders for 

acquisition within DOD components, the 

Comptroller, and the functional leaders

· Governance and oversight of the Fund

· Alignment of the Fund with DOD’s Civilian Human 

Capital Strategic Plan and human capital initiatives

· Fund allocation to components for execution of 

approved initiatives, based on recommendations of 

the Workforce Management Group

Workforce Management 

Group

· Chaired by the Director of Human Capital 

Initiatives

· Members include the principal 

representatives of the Senior Steering 

Board

· The Comptroller and Under Secretary of 

Defense for Personnel and Readiness are 

invited to attend

· Advise the Senior Steering Board regarding 

management and use of the Fund, including 

alignment with strategic objectives and guidance

· Oversee Fund initiatives and execution plans, and 

ensure these support statutory intent and strategic 

objectives

· Assist DOD leadership and components with 

annual update to Congress on the acquisition 

workforce

Source: GAO presentation of DOD data. I GA0-16-80

 

10National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008, Pub L. No. 110-181, § 852, 

(codified as amended at 10 U.S.C. § 1705). For more information on the Defense 

Acquisition Workforce Development Fund, see GAO, Defense Acquisition Workforce: 

Improved Processes, Guidance, and Planning Needed to Enhance Use of Workforce 

Funds, GAO-12-747R (Washington, D.C.: June 20, 2012).
DOD has increased the size of its workforce since September 2008, 

exceeding its 20,000 personnel growth target by over 7,000 as of March 

2015. The growth varied within individual components. For example, the 

Air Force and Navy, as well as the other DOD agencies collectively, have 

more acquisition personnel now than in fiscal year 2008. Conversely, the 

Army has experienced an 8 percent decrease in the size of its acquisition 

workforce since fiscal year 2008 due to Army-wide cost savings 

measures that have impacted the size of the civilian workforce. The 

reported increase in DOD’s acquisition workforce was accomplished 

through hiring of additional personnel, converting functions previously 

performed by DOD contractors to performance by DOD civilian personnel 

(referred to as insourcing), adding military personnel to the acquisition 

workforce, and administratively recoding existing personnel, the last of 

which does not result in an increase in DOD’s workforce capacity. 

Shortfalls, however, exist in certain career fields. For example, 6 of 

DOD’s 13 acquisition career fields, including 3 priority career fields—

contracting, engineering, and business—did not meet growth goals.

DOD increased the size of its military and civilian acquisition workforce by 

21 percent, from about 126,000 to about 153,000, between September 

2008 and March 2015. This equates to a nearly 27,000 personnel 

increase and 7,000 personnel more than identified in DOD’s April 2010 

acquisition workforce plan. Figure 1 shows that most of this growth 

occurred in fiscal years 2009 and 2010.

Page 8 GAO-16-80 Defense Acquisition Workforce

DOD Exceeded Its 

Overall Acquisition 

Workforce Growth 

Goal, but Shortfalls 

Exist in Several 

Career Fields

Overall Acquisition 

Workforce Growth Goals 

Have Been Met
Figure 1: Defense Acquisition Workforce Size by Component between September 2008 and March 2015

Page 9 GAO-16-80 Defense Acquisition Workforce

Acquisition workforce growth outpaced losses between fiscal years 2008 

and 2012. However, in fiscal years 2013 and 2014, the department 

experienced a small decrease. During this time, DOD components were 

faced with sequestration and other cost-cutting measures.11 In 

preparation for these cuts, the Under Secretary of Defense for 

Acquisition, Technology and Logistics issued a memorandum in 

September 2012 that specified that DOD components were to take a 

strategic view in workforce decisions and protect the rebuilding 

investments, especially in light of ongoing contractor support reductions. 

For the most part, components were able to sustain the acquisition 

growth levels they had already achieved, with the exception of the Army, 

 

11The Budget Control Act of 2011, as implemented by the Office of Management and 

Budget, required spending cuts in fiscal year 2013 totaling about $37 billion through 

across-the-board, proportional reductions in funding provided in the appropriations acts for 

most defense accounts. Pub. L. No. 112-25 (2011) (as amended). These included 

accounts related to DOD’s civilian workforce and contracted services. For more 

information, see GAO, Sequestration: Documenting and Assessing Lessons Learned 

Would Assist DOD in Planning for Future Budget Uncertainty, GAO-15-470 (Washington, 

D.C.: May 27, 2015).
which lost several thousand personnel. In fiscal year 2015, each 

component again experienced an increase, with the exception of the 

Army. According to Army Defense Acquisition Career Management 

officials, the Army’s cost-cutting efforts have affected all aspects of Army 

operations, including acquisition. Since 2008, the number of overall Army 

military and civilian personnel has decreased by 91,000, or 12 percent, 

from 790,000 to 699,000. The acquisition portion of this reduction was 

almost 3,400 personnel.

The department grew the acquisition workforce through a combination of 

hiring and insourcing actions, as originally planned, as well as by adding 

military personnel and administratively recoding existing positions. Figure 

2 shows how DOD increased the acquisition workforce through fiscal year 

2014, the most recent year for which DOD could provide complete data.

Figure 2: Sources of Defense Acquisition Workforce Growth, September 2008 

Page 10 GAO-16-80 Defense Acquisition Workforce

through September 2014

aRecoding can result in either increases or decreases in the number of personnel in the acquisition 

workforce. The recoding figure represents the net gain to the acquisition workforce through recoding 

efforts.

About 72 percent of the workforce growth has been achieved through 

hiring new civilian employees, with more than half of this increase 

attributable to funds provided through the Defense Acquisition Workforce 

Development Fund. Since 2009, DOD has spent about $1.8 billion from 

the fund to recruit and hire about 10,400 new civilian employees. DOD 
used the majority of the funding to pay their salaries for a 2- to 3-year 

period, after which the components fund the personnel through their own 

budget accounts. The hiring actions generally were in the career fields 

that DOD indicated were a priority in the 2010 acquisition workforce plan. 

For example, about three-quarters of all Defense Acquisition Workforce 

Development Fund hiring was targeted toward five priority career fields—

contracting, business, engineering, program management, and auditing—

identified in DOD’s April 2010 acquisition workforce plan.

Page 11 GAO-16-80 Defense Acquisition Workforce

12 DOD 

components used their own funds to hire the balance of the new civilian 

and military employees identified in the figure above.

Overall, insourcing accounted for about 14 percent of the workforce 

growth. DOD originally planned to insource 10,000 contractor positions 

for the acquisition workforce by fiscal year 2015. Components insourced 

about 3,400 positions prior to a March 2011 revision to DOD’s insourcing 

policy. According to the memorandum revising the policy, which was 

issued jointly by the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, 

Technology and Logistics and the Under Secretary of Defense 

Comptroller/Chief Financial Officer, a case-by-case approach would be 

used for additional insourcing of acquisition functions based on critical 

need, whether a function is inherently governmental, and the benefit 

demonstrated by a cost-benefit analysis.13 DOD officials stated that the 

revised policy effectively curtailed any additional efforts.14

Based on data provided by DOD’s Human Capital Initiatives Directorate, 

we estimate that recoding accounted for at least an 11 percent increase 

in DOD’s overall acquisition workforce. Acquisition officials stated that 

administrative recoding efforts, which resulted in both increases and 

decreases to the acquisition workforce, were made to ensure that all 

acquisition personnel were properly accounted for within each component 

 

12The plan specifically identified cost estimating, which is part of the business career field, 

as a priority career field.

13The memorandum also states that additional insourcing must be supported by current 

budget levels. In cases where added insourcing would breach the existing civilian ceilings, 

the proposal and associated justification must be provided to the Director of Human 

Capital Initiatives and then the proposal will be reviewed by the two Under Secretaries of 

Defense issuing the memorandum and approved by the Deputy Secretary of Defense.

14For more information, see GAO, Defense Workforce: DOD Needs to Better Oversee Insourcing Data and Align In-sourcing Efforts with Strategic Workforce Plans, GAO-12-319

(Washington, D.C.: February 9, 2012).
and career field. According to acquisition officials, recoding was 

necessary because some personnel were performing acquisition 

functions the majority of the time, but were not counted as a part of the 

acquisition workforce. These personnel generally continued to perform 

the same duties and do not equate to an increase in the capacity of the 

organization. The recoded personnel are required to meet acquisition 

professional certification standards, including training, education, and 

experience requirements. According to Human Capital Initiatives and 

DOD component officials, recoding primarily occurred in three career 

fields—facilities engineering, life cycle logistics, and science and 

technology manager. For example, Air Force Materiel Command 

estimated that it recoded approximately 3,600 personnel at its 

maintenance depots as acquisition personnel, some of which were 

recoded to the life cycle logistics career field. 

Increases in the number of military positions accounted for 3 percent of 

the workforce growth. According to Army and Air Force acquisition 

officials, one of the primary reasons DOD increased the number of 

military personnel serving in the acquisition workforce was to provide 

increased capacity. Much of this growth was in the contracting career field 

during contingency operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Overall, Human Capital Initiatives statistics show that growth efforts have 

helped DOD reshape the civilian workforce. In fiscal year 2008, DOD 

found that about half of its civilian acquisition workforce had 10 years or 

less before they were eligible for retirement, with far fewer mid-career 

individuals ready to take their place or provide mentoring and supervision 

to those workforce members who were early in their career. Defense 

Acquisition Workforce Development Fund hiring has helped strategically 

reshape the workforce by bolstering critical functions and building early 

and mid-career workforce size. Although no specific goals were set, figure 

3 shows the progress DOD has made increasing the number of earlycareer staff (those eligible to retire in 20 years or more) and mid-career 

staff (those eligible to retire in 11 to 20 years).

Page 12 GAO-16-80 Defense Acquisition Workforce
Figure 3: Acquisition Workforce Demographics, Fiscal Years 2008 and 2014

Page 13 GAO-16-80 Defense Acquisition Workforce

There have also been improvements in the training and qualifications of 

the workforce. For example, the percent of the workforce that met 

certification requirements increased from 58 percent to 79 percent 

between fiscal years 2008 and 2014. In addition, the number of 

acquisition personnel with a bachelor’s degree or higher increased from 

77 to 83 percent. However, DOD still faces the challenge of an aging 

workforce, as statistics also show that the average age of the workforce 

has been static since 2008 at about 45 years, and the percentage of 

retirement eligible personnel has remained at 17 percent. Defense 

acquisition officials recognize the risks associated with the loss of very 

experienced members of the acquisition workforce. These officials noted 

they are concerned about retaining an adequate number of personnel in 

the senior career group to provide leadership and continuity for the 

workforce between 2020 and 2030.
While DOD met the overall acquisition growth goal, it did not accomplish 

the goals set for some career fields. The 2010 acquisition workforce plan 

identified growth goals, expressed in terms of a percent increase from 

fiscal year 2008 to fiscal year 2015, for each of the 13 acquisition career 

fields. The plan indicated that targeted growth in 5 of these priority career 

fields—auditing, business, contracting, engineering, and program 

management—would help DOD strategically reshape its acquisition 

workforce. As of March 2015, our analysis shows that DOD exceeded its 

planned growth for 7 career fields by about 11,300 personnel, including 

the priority career fields of auditing and program management. The 

department did not, however, reach the targets in its growth plan for the 

other 6 career fields by about 4,400 personnel, including the priority 

career fields of contracting, business, and engineering (see figure 4).

Page 14 GAO-16-80 Defense Acquisition Workforce

Growth Goals Not Met in 

Some Priority Career 

Fields
Figure 4: Difference between Planned and Actual Career Field Growth between September 2008 and March 2015

Page 15 GAO-16-80 Defense Acquisition Workforce

aBased on DOD’s April 2010 acquisition workforce plan.

b

The business career field was divided into two career fields in 2010, cost estimating and financial 

management. The two career fields are reported under “business” for consistency.

According to military department acquisition officials, shortfalls in 

contracting and engineering career fields are largely the result of high 

attrition rates and difficulty in hiring qualified personnel. Despite these 
challenges, the engineering career field was within 1 percent of its hiring 

goal. The business career field did not meet its overall growth goal in part 

because of recoding actions that resulted in a loss to the career field, 

greater than expected attrition, and Army cost-cutting efforts. Leaders in 

some of these areas are trying to identify ways to complete activities 

more efficiently to reduce the impact of shortfalls. For example, the Cost 

Assessment and Program Evaluation office, which is responsible for 

completing independent cost estimates for acquisition programs, has 

started an initiative to develop a centralized database and virtual library of 

cost and acquisition data so that cost analysts spend less time gathering 

data and more time analyzing it.

Increasing the number of people performing acquisition work is only part 

of DOD’s strategy to improve the capability of its workforce; another part 

is ensuring that the workforce has the requisite skills and tools to perform 

their tasks. DOD developed a five-phased process that included surveys 

of its employees to assess the skills of its workforce and to identify and 

close skill gaps. Efforts to complete the process were hindered by low 

survey response rates and the absence of proficiency standards. Further, 

DOD has not established time frames for when career fields should 

conduct another round of competency assessments to assess progress 

towards addressing previously identified gaps and to identify emerging 

needs.

In October 2009, section 1108 of the National Defense Authorization Act 

for Fiscal Year 2010 required DOD to include certain information as a part 

of its acquisition workforce plan, including an assessment of (1) the 

critical skills and competencies needed by the future DOD workforce for 

the 7-year period following the submission of the report, (2) the critical 

competencies of the existing workforce and projected trends in that 

workforce based on expected losses due to retirement and other attrition, 

and (3) gaps in DOD’s existing or projected workforce that should be 

addressed to ensure that DOD has continued access to critical skills and 

Page 16 GAO-16-80 Defense Acquisition Workforce

DOD Has Completed 

Most Workforce 

Assessments, but 

Has Limited Data on 

Workforce Proficiency 

and Skill Gaps

All but One Career Field 

Completed Required 

Competency Assessment
competencies.

Page 17 GAO-16-80 Defense Acquisition Workforce

15 Subsequently, the April 2010 acquisition workforce plan 

outlined a five-phased process that each of the 13 career fields was to 

use to assess the skills of its workforce and to identify and close skill gaps 

(see figure 5).

Figure 5: Process Used by the Department of Defense to Assess Skill Gaps

DOD functional leaders generally relied on input from senior experts to 

identify the baseline competencies for phase 1, used subject matter 

experts to identify work situations and competencies contributing to 

successful performance for phase 2, and solicited feedback on the 

models through limited testing with the workforce for phase 3. To validate 

models and assess workforce proficiency in phase 4, career field leaders 

relied on surveys that were sent to all or a sample of personnel to solicit 

their assessment of (1) the criticality of each competency, (2) how 

frequently they demonstrated each competency, and (3) how proficient 

they were at each competency. For phase 5, among other things, DOD 

planned to report on the progress made to identify and close skill gaps 

and ensure that the competencies remained current.

 

15Pub. L. No. 111-84, § 1108(a) (codified at 10 U.S.C. § 115b (d). According to the Office 

of Personnel Management, a competency is an observable, measurable set of skills, 

knowledge, abilities, behaviors, and other characteristics an individual needs to 

successfully perform work roles or occupational functions. Competencies are typically 

required at different levels of proficiency depending on the specific work role or 

occupational function. Competencies can help ensure individual and team performance 

aligns with the organization’s mission and strategic direction. A competency gap is the 

difference between the projected or actual availability of mission-critical competencies and 

the projected or actual demand for such competencies. Identification of current or future 

gaps typically addresses the size, composition, and competency proficiency levels of the 

workforce.
As of October 2015, 12 of the 13 career fields had completed at least an 

initial competency assessment. The production, quality, and 

manufacturing career field is the only career field that had not completed 

all of the phases at least once, due primarily to turnover in leadership, 

according to an Office of the Secretary of Defense official. According to 

DOD’s Human Capital Initiatives officials, this career field intends to 

complete its initial competency assessment by the end of 2017. In the 

interim, this official noted that the functional leader and the functional 

integrated product team will continue to actively assess workforce gaps 

and needs and will use other resources, such as the Defense Acquisition 

University, to address known skill gaps. Until such time, however, this 

career field may not have the necessary information to fully identify and 

assess skill gaps, as statutorily required.

Assessing workforce proficiency, according to the Office of Personnel 

Management’s human capital assessment guidance, allows agencies to 

target their recruitment, retention, and development efforts. DOD planned 

to collect data on workforce proficiency as a part of the competency 

assessment process by pairing supervisor and employee responses to 

questions included in the surveys, but this effort was hindered by low 

response rates. In a separate, but related, effort DOD has not yet 

completed efforts to develop proficiency standards for the acquisition 

career fields, which would ultimately allow leaders to measure employee 

proficiency against standards that are specific to each career field.

Contracting and auditing were the two career fields that were able to pair 

supervisor and employee responses collected in competency 

assessments to make observations about workforce proficiency. These 

results helped senior leaders identify areas where the workforce did not 

possess the same level of proficiency as supervisors expected. For 

example, senior contracting leaders determined that, among other things, 

fundamental contracting skills were needed across entry and mid-career 

levels of the contracting workforce and currency, breadth and depth of 

knowledge were needed across mid-career and senior levels. Leaders 

emphasized the importance of not only mastering the “what,” but in being 

able to use critical thinking and sound judgment to apply the knowledge,

thus mastering the “how.” In response, the contracting senior leaders 

worked together with the Defense Acquisition University to develop a 4-

week research-intensive fundamentals course that provides new hires 

practical experience using the Federal Acquisition Regulation and the 

Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement. The auditing career 

field overhauled its training curriculum for new auditors to closely tie with 

Page 18 GAO-16-80 Defense Acquisition Workforce

Low Competency 

Assessment Response 

Rates and the Absence of 

Proficiency Standards 

Hindered DOD’s Ability to 

Assess Workforce 

Proficiency for Most 

Career Fields
government auditing standards, which career field officials stated would 

play a large role in addressing gaps in the auditing competencies. The 

new hire curriculum consists of a 2-week onboarding session, followed by 

a 2-week class in basic contract audit skills, plus another 2-week class 

focused on applying the skills in specific types of audits.

The other 10 career fields that completed a competency assessment 

relied on staff self-assessments to make observations about workforce 

proficiency because of low survey response rates, particularly by 

supervisors. As a result, the Center for Naval Analysis, which conducted 

surveys for these 10 career fields, generally stated in its reports that the 

results were less verifiable because they were not validated against 

supervisor responses and that leaders should exercise caution when 

extrapolating the results. Overall response rates for these career fields 

ranged from 13 to 37 percent. Five of the career field leaders we met with 

stated that they used other reviews and input from functional integrated 

product teams to complement the survey results and then worked with the 

Defense Acquisition University to develop or update training classes. The 

program management career field, for example, conducted two studies, 

one in 2009 and another in 2014. The studies included interviews of 

program managers and program executive officers to identify 

opportunities to improve the proficiency of programs managers through 

additional training or experience requirements for program management 

candidates. The studies identified, among other things, the need to 

improve program managers’ awareness of earned value management, 

which is a project management technique for measuring performance and 

progress, and business acumen. In response, the Defense Acquisition 

University developed a class called “Understanding Industry” which 

covers such issues as how contractors align their business strategies, 

finances, and operations to meet corporate goals.

The Center for Naval Analysis reported that it did not explicitly identify 

proficiency gaps as a part of conducting the competency assessment 

surveys for most career fields because no proficiency standards exist. 

The Center for Naval Analysis strongly encouraged leadership to set 

standards based on baseline data gathered in the surveys. DOD began 

efforts to establish department-wide proficiency standards in 2012 under 

the Acquisition Workforce Qualification Initiative. Overall, DOD estimated 

that it would require establishing up to 2,000 standards across the 

acquisition career fields. However, the project leader stated that it proved 

difficult to develop a set of standards whose applicability would be 

common across all personnel, including those with the same position title,

because employees perform different acquisition activities across or even 

Page 19 GAO-16-80 Defense Acquisition Workforce
within the DOD components. Further, the project leader stated that it 

became apparent that developing a single database to collect and track 

experiences of the acquisition workforce would take considerable time 

and expense and would contribute to the proliferation of systems that an 

organization would have to support and maintain.

The goal of this initiative is now to map competencies for each career 

field to on-the-job outcomes, with a focus on assessing the quality versus 

the quantity of the experiences, according to the project leader. Initiative 

officials are working with the Defense Contract Management Agency to 

leverage a database that the agency uses to track employee experiences. 

For now, initiative officials are creating a computer-based tool using Excel 

software that employees can use to track their individual acquisition 

experience. The tool is designed to be used by employees to facilitate 

career development conversations with supervisors. The project leader 

expects that the tool should be available for use in 2016.

According to the Office of Personnel Management, as part of their 

workforce planning activities, agencies should monitor and evaluate their 

efforts to address competency gaps on a continuous basis. DOD has not 

determined how often competency assessments should be conducted; 

however, five career field leaders we met with stated that assessments 

should be completed every 3 to 5 years. They stated that this would allow 

leadership time to gauge the success of efforts to address previous skill 

gaps, identify current skill gaps, and identify emerging needs.

In that regard, the business and contracting career fields recently 

completed a second round of workforce assessments and are in the 

process of analyzing results or identifying actions to address gaps. The 

other 10 career fields that completed an initial competency assessment 

did so between 2008 and 2012, but have not completed another round of 

workforce assessments to determine if their workforce improvement 

efforts were successful and what more needs to be done. Half of these 10 

career field leaders indicated that they plan to complete another 

assessment between 2016 and 2019, or about 5 to 8 years after the initial 

assessment was conducted for most career fields. Without establishing 

appropriate time frames to conduct follow-up assessments and 

completing those assessments, acquisition workforce leaders will not 

have the data needed to track improvement in the capability of the 

workforce and focus future training efforts, as called for by Office of 

Personnel Management standards.

Page 20 GAO-16-80 Defense Acquisition Workforce

DOD Has Not Identified a 

Time Frame to Conduct 

Follow-up Assessments
DOD generally plans to maintain the current level and composition of the 

acquisition workforce. DOD has not, however, verified that the current 

composition of the workforce will meet its future workforce needs. 

Officials at the Air Force Materiel Command, Army Materiel Command, 

and Naval Sea Systems Command indicated that they are having 

difficulties meeting program office needs, especially in the contracting and 

engineering career fields. These two priority career fields will remain 

under the levels targeted by DOD’s April 2010 workforce plan, while 

several other career fields will continue to exceed their targeted level. 

Further, Human Capital Initiatives has not issued an updated workforce 

strategy that includes revised career field goals or issued guidance on the 

use of the Defense Acquisition Workforce Development Fund to guide 

future hiring decisions.

In an April 2015 memorandum, the Under Secretary of Defense for 

Acquisition, Technology and Logistics stated that it is imperative for the 

components to sustain and build on the investment made to increase the 

capacity and capability of the acquisition workforce. Specifically, the 

components were told to responsibly sustain the acquisition workforce 

size and make adjustments based on workload demand and 

requirements.

According to January 2015 workforce projections included in budget 

exhibits that components developed for the fiscal year 2016 president’s 

budget,

Page 21 GAO-16-80 Defense Acquisition Workforce

16 the components generally plan to maintain the current level and 

composition of the civilian and military acquisition workforce through fiscal 

year 2020, though individual components project slight shifts. For 

example, these projections indicate that the Army plans to increase the 

size of its acquisition workforce by almost 2.5 percent by predominantly 

adding military personnel, while the Air Force projects a less than 1 

percent decrease and the Navy projects a decrease of almost 2 percent.17

 

16Department of Defense 7000.14-R Financial Management Regulation Volume 2B, 

Chapter 19 requires components to submit Exhibit PB-23 using an online database 

operated by the Office of Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation. The exhibit provides 

visibility into the size of the entire defense acquisition workforce and the funding required 

to support the workforce. These submissions indicate the projected number of personnel 

in the defense acquisition workforce, by DOD component and by career field through the 

next 5 years.

17Components update their workforce projections several times a year. 

DOD Has Not Issued 

an Updated 

Acquisition Workforce 

Strategy or Guidance 

on Workforce Funds 

to Focus Future 

Hiring Decisions

DOD Plans to Maintain 

Current Workforce Levels 

and Mix, but Selected 

Commands Are 

Concerned about Meeting 

Acquisition Program 

Needs
The other DOD components are planning to decrease the size of their 

current workforces collectively by about 5 percent. However, Army 

officials stated that in September 2015, the Army revised its projection. It 

now estimates that its acquisition workforce will decrease by about 1,800, 

or 5 percent, by fiscal year 2020 as a result of recent reductions to the 

Army’s entire military structure from fiscal year 2016 forward. According 

to DOD guidance, the component budget exhibits contain estimates of the 

number of authorized and funded acquisition workforce personnel through 

the Future Years Defense Program.

Page 22 GAO-16-80 Defense Acquisition Workforce

18 The estimates do not provide 

information on components’ workforce projected shortfalls.

Our analysis of the budget exhibits shows that to maintain the overall size 

of the workforce at around 150,000, DOD components collectively plan to 

spend between $18.5 billion and $19.4 billion annually through fiscal year 

2020. This funding will be used to pay acquisition workforce salaries, 

benefits, training, and related workforce improvement initiatives. The total 

amount includes about $500 million in planned funding annually for the 

Defense Acquisition Workforce Development Fund, which will be used to 

hire about 4,900 new employees through fiscal year 2020 to help sustain 

the current size of the workforce and continue training and development 

efforts. Budget documents also indicate, however, that many career fields 

are projected to continue to be significantly over or under their original 

growth targets identified in DOD’s April 2010 acquisition workforce plan 

(see figure 6).

 

18The Future Years Defense Program provides DOD and the Congress a tool for looking 

at future funding needs beyond immediate budget priorities and can be considered a longterm capital plan. The Future Years Defense Program is to cover the fiscal year with 

respect to which the budget is submitted and at least the 4 succeeding fiscal years. 10 

U.S.C. § 221.
Figure 6: Difference between Current Career Field Growth and Projected Changes through Fiscal Year 2020

Page 23 GAO-16-80 Defense Acquisition Workforce

aBased on DOD’s April 2010 acquisition workforce plan.

b

The business career field was divided into two career fields in 2010, cost estimating and financial 

management. The two career fields are reported under “business” for consistency.

Our analysis of the PB-23 submissions indicates that eight career fields 

will lose about 2,500 positions collectively between 2015 and 2020. One 

of these career fields, life cycle logistics, is projected to lose almost 1,400 
of these positions, but will still be significantly over the growth target 

established in 2010. Five career fields are expected to grow by a total of 

about 1,000 positions, with the majority of this growth in the contracting 

and facilities engineering career fields. The growth expected between 

2015 and 2020 will allow purchasing to meet its initial growth target. 

Despite this projected growth, however, four of the priority career fields—

contracting, business, engineering, and audit—will remain under the April 

2010 growth targets.

Further, concerns about the levels of contracting and engineering 

personnel were expressed by officials at each of the three major 

acquisition commands we met with—Air Force Materiel Command, Army 

Materiel Command, and Naval Sea Systems Command. For example,

· Air Force Materiel Command has not been able to hire enough 

personnel to offset a 10 percent attrition rate in the contracting career 

field, according to career field leaders. It also has shortfalls in 

engineering personnel, which requires multiple programs to share 

engineers with particular technical expertise. The command manages 

personnel shortfalls by assessing risks for its programs and then 

reallocating staff from programs that are considered to have less risk 

to new programs or programs that have more risk. Command officials 

cited several reasons for the shortfalls. First, since fiscal year 2013,

the command has initiated 19 new acquisition programs without 

budgeting for the civilian and military personnel needed to adequately 

support the entire portfolio of the command’s programs. Second, 

command officials noted that they have lost some military and civilian 

acquisition personnel due to DOD-wide cuts in operation and 

maintenance funding accounts from which these personnel are paid. 

Finally, officials stated that the command has made cuts to the 

contractor workforce that more than offset the growth in the military 

and civilian acquisition workforce to date.

· Army Materiel Command officials stated that the command is currently 

experiencing shortfalls in the contracting career field and the shortfall 

is expected to reach about 800 personnel by fiscal year 2020. The 

shortfalls are the result of several cost-cutting actions taken by the 

Army since fiscal year 2011 to implement mandated reductions and 

caps on future spending. For example, the command’s contracting 

organization was only able to fund about 3,600 of its authorized 4,000 

positions. Officials from that organization stated that they have moved 

over $100 million in contract actions from overburdened contracting 

offices to other contracting offices within the command that have 

Page 24 GAO-16-80 Defense Acquisition Workforce
additional capacity. Officials estimate that they can only mitigate the 

impact of about one-third of planned reductions through workload 

realignments and process changes. In addition, the command has 

taken on several new missions without gaining additional resources, 

including contingency contract administration services that were 

previously performed by the Defense Contract Management Agency 

and lead responsibility for contracting in Afghanistan, which was 

previously provided through a joint contracting organization assigned 

to U.S. Central Command.

· Naval Sea Systems Command officials stated that the command is 

experiencing shortfalls in the contracting and engineering career 

fields, and they are projecting additional shortfalls by fiscal year 2020.

One metric the command is tracking to assess contracting workload 

shows that the number of new contract awards that are delayed into 

the next fiscal year was approximately 100 for fiscal year 2015. This 

includes the contract award for the Navy’s Own Ship Monitoring 

System, a technology for submarine sonar systems, as well as the 

Aegis Weapon System Modernization production upgrades. The 

number of new contract awards that are delayed into the next fiscal 

year is expected to grow to about 430 contracts by fiscal year 2020 as 

a result of workload increases and shortfalls in the contracting career 

field. Command officials expect current shortfalls in contracting 

personnel to be exacerbated by DOD-wide cuts to civilian personnel. 

In addition, Naval Sea Systems Command engineering officials said 

that one-third of the command’s technical specifications and 

standards, which serve as the fleet’s instructional manual on routine 

ship maintenance, have not been reviewed in the past 20 years. They 

said that the backlog of specification and standard reviews indirectly 

contributed to two failures within 5 years of the main reduction gears 

on a Navy destroyer—a warship that provides multi-mission offensive 

and defensive capabilities.

Page 25 GAO-16-80 Defense Acquisition Workforce

19 The failures resulted from an industry 

change in oil composition that was not addressed by corresponding 

changes to the Navy’s maintenance standards for the ship.

In general, command officials could not provide validated data on the 

extent of current workforce shortfalls, but each military department is 

 

19A ship’s main reduction gear unit is a complex and expensive arrangement of gears 

used to transmit engine power to a propeller. 
developing models to help better project acquisition program needs and 

quantify potential shortfalls. Specifically:

· The Air Force Materiel Command pilot-tested an updated Air Force 

workforce model in 2015 to assist with personnel planning over the life 

cycle of a program based on factors such as type of program and life 

cycle phase. The model projects that the command will have a 

shortfall of over 1,300 military and civilian acquisition positions by 

fiscal year 2017, and nearly 1,900 positions by fiscal year 2021. 

Command officials are working closely with acquisition program 

managers to validate program needs and to identify weaknesses in

the model. Additional functionality is expected to be added over the 

next several years that will allow the command to target hiring to fill 

specific workforce gaps. For example, instead of soliciting applications 

for engineers in general, the command could more specifically target 

materials engineers.

· The Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and 

Technology is in the process of developing personnel planning 

models that will better allow organizations to forecast their manpower 

requirements. The program management model was approved by the 

Army Manpower Analysis Agency and is beginning to be used by 

program managers. Army Materiel Command officials expect a new 

contracting model to be available for use later in fiscal year 2016.

Additional models for research and development and test and 

evaluation are also being planned.

· Naval Sea Systems Command officials stated that they are in the 

process of developing career field-specific tools to, among other 

things, forecast needs, help identify skill gaps, and create demand 

signals for career development opportunities. No date was provided 

for when these tools will be available.

DOD has not issued an updated acquisition workforce strategy to help 

guide future hiring decisions. According to Human Capital Initiatives 

officials, budget uncertainties have been the primary reason for the delay. 

The Director of Human Capital Initiatives noted that senior DOD and 

military department leadership regularly discuss the state of the 

acquisition workforce and its capacity to address emerging needs and 

challenges. The Director also noted that similar discussions occur at 

various levels within DOD components. As a result, the Director stated 

that while the size and composition of the workforce differs from what was 

called for in DOD’s 2010 acquisition workforce plan, DOD’s current and 

Page 26 GAO-16-80 Defense Acquisition Workforce

DOD Does Not Have an 

Updated Acquisition 

Workforce Strategy or 

Guidance on the Use of 

Defense Acquisition 

Workforce Development 

Funds to Help Focus

Future Hiring Decisions
projected workforce largely reflect the decisions made during these 

discussions. However, according to acquisition officials we met with, DOD 

components and sub-components make thousands of individual hiring 

decisions, based not only on the need to obtain critical skills, but to also 

sustain growth already achieved in a career field, address emerging 

issues, and meet other priorities. Human Capital Initiatives officials said 

that they are working to issue an updated acquisition workforce plan in 

2016.

10 U.S.C. Section 115b requires that DOD issue a biennial acquisition 

workforce strategy that, among other things, assesses the appropriate 

mix of military, civilian, and contractor personnel capabilities and includes 

a plan of action to meet department goals. Further, as we have previously 

reported, issuing a workforce strategy and an associated plan of action is 

crucial for DOD to effectively and efficiently manage its civilian workforce 

during times of budgetary and fiscal constraint.

Page 27 GAO-16-80 Defense Acquisition Workforce

20 For example, continuing 

cuts to operation and maintenance budget accounts and efforts to reduce 

headquarters spending by 20 percent over the next few years could result 

in additional reductions to acquisition workforce positions in some career 

fields. In addition, Section 955 of the National Defense Authorization Act 

for Fiscal Year 2013 requires DOD to plan to achieve civilian and service 

contractor workforce savings that are not less than the savings in funding 

for military personnel achieved from reductions in military strength, which 

could also affect the size of the acquisition workforce.21 DOD may also be 

faced with another round of sequestration cuts, which could result in 

hiring freezes or workforce reductions. Without issuing an updated 

workforce strategy, as statutorily required, DOD may not be positioned to 

meet future acquisition needs.

 

20GAO, Human Capital: DOD Should Fully Develop Its Civilian Strategic Workforce Plan 

to Aid Decision Makers, GAO-14-565 (Washington D.C.: July 9, 2014).

21Pub. L. No. 112-329, § 955. The first report was provided to Congress in September 

2014, and a second report was provided with the budget justification materials 

accompanying the President’s Budget for fiscal year 2016. Subsequent reports are due 

when the President submits the budget to Congress for fiscal years 2017 and 2018. 

Currently, DOD has excluded from the plan expenses related to the civilian acquisition 

workforce function, as a group, on the basis that the performance of this function has been 

identified as core or critical to the mission of DOD. However, exclusion from the plan does 

not mean the civilian acquisition workforce cannot be cut in order to achieve these 

savings, or receive other cuts in the future. We have ongoing work assessing DOD’s 

implementation of section 955 and plan to report the final results in 2016.
Aligning the use of the Defense Acquisition Workforce Development Fund 

to high priority workforce needs is also crucial. In the past, some hiring 

decisions made by DOD components using the Defense Acquisition 

Workforce Development Fund exceeded initial 2010 career field targets.

In addition, over the past 7 years, about 2,700 personnel, or 26 percent of 

those hired with these funds, were in career fields that were not 

considered high priority in the 2010 acquisition workforce plan. For 

example, funds were used to hire about 850 personnel for the life cycle 

logistics career field that is significantly over its growth target. To focus 

use of the funds, the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, 

Logistics and Technology issued guidance in March 2013 that identified 

critical career field priorities for the future acquisition workforce and 

emphasized the need to balance critical acquisition skills needed with 

other personnel requirements during times of constrained budgets and 

limited personnel resources. In fiscal year 2014, the Assistant Secretary 

of the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisition directed that 75 

percent of Navy’s hiring using these funds should be in priority career 

fields such as contracting, engineering, and business. The Air Force has 

not issued similar guidance on how to target hiring efforts to meet critical 

needs.

Section 1705 of Title 10, U.S. Code, requires the Human Capital 

Initiatives Directorate to issue guidance for the administration of the 

Defense Acquisition Workforce Development Fund. The guidance is to 

identify areas of need in the acquisition workforce, including changes to 

the types of skills needed. The Director of Human Capital Initiatives told 

us, however, that while key stakeholders involved in acquisition workforce 

planning, such as the Senior Steering Board and defense acquisition 

career managers, discuss areas of need in the workforce, the office does 

not issue guidance on how DOD components should prioritize their hiring 

decisions. Without clearly linking the use of these funds with the strategic 

goals of the department, components may continue to over-hire in some 

career fields and not be able to adequately meet critical acquisition 

program needs in other career fields.

DOD has focused much needed attention on rebuilding its acquisition 

workforce and has used the Defense Acquisition Workforce Development 

Fund to increase hiring and provide for additional training that supports 

this effort. This is especially noteworthy given that the department faced 

sequestration and other cost-cutting pressures over the past several 

years.

Page 28 GAO-16-80 Defense Acquisition Workforce

Conclusions
Now that the department has surpassed its overall growth goals and has 

moved into a workforce sustainment mode, the 2010 acquisition 

workforce plan needs to be updated. Focus should now be placed on 

reshaping career fields to ensure that the most critical acquisition needs 

are being met. DOD attempted to strategically reshape its acquisition 

workforce with the 2010 acquisition workforce plan, but fell short in 

several priority career fields, including contracting and engineering. An 

updated plan that includes revised career field goals, coupled with 

guidance on how to use the Defense Acquisition Workforce Development 

Fund, could help DOD components focus future hiring efforts on priority 

career fields. Without an integrated approach, the department is at risk of 

using the funds to hire personnel in career fields that currently exceed 

their targets or are not considered a priority.

DOD has also made progress in identifying career field competencies, but 

additional steps are needed to complete this effort. For example, the 

production, quality, and manufacturing career field has yet to complete its 

initial competency assessment and DOD has not established time frames 

to conduct follow-up assessments for the other career fields so that it can 

determine if skill gaps are being addressed. Office of Personnel 

Management standards state that identifying skill gaps and monitoring 

progress towards addressing gaps are essential steps for effective human 

capital management. Without completing all competency assessments

and establishing time frames for completing follow-up assessments, 

acquisition leaders will not have the data needed to track improvement in 

the capability of the workforce.

To improve DOD’s oversight and management of the acquisition 

workforce, we are making four recommendations. Specifically, to ensure 

that DOD has the right people with the right skills to meet future needs, 

we recommend that the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, 

Technology and Logistics direct the Director, Human Capital Initiatives to:

· Issue an updated acquisition workforce plan in fiscal year 2016 that 

includes revised career field goals;

· Issue guidance to focus component hiring efforts using the Defense 

Acquisition Workforce Development Fund on priority career fields;

· Ensure the functional leader for the production, quality, and 

manufacturing career field completes an initial competency 

assessment; and

Page 29 GAO-16-80 Defense Acquisition Workforce

Recommendations for 

Executive Action
· Establish time frames, in collaboration with functional leaders, to 

complete future career field competency assessments.

We provided a draft of this report to DOD for comment. In its written 

comments, which are reprinted in appendix I, DOD concurred with our 

recommendations and described the actions it plans to take. DOD also 

provided technical comments, which we incorporated in the report as 

appropriate.

In response to our recommendation that DOD issue an updated 

acquisition workforce plan, the department stated that it is currently 

working on the fiscal year 2016–2021 Defense Acquisition Workforce 

Strategic Plan, and that it plans to provide the draft plan for review by the 

end of 2015. The department, however, did not indicate specifically that 

the updated plan would include revised career field goals. We believe 

updated career field goals should be included in the plan because they 

can help inform future hiring decisions and rebalance the size of each 

career field, if necessary. 

The department concurred with our recommendation that the Director, 

Human Capital Initiatives issue guidance to focus hiring efforts using the 

Defense Acquisition Workforce Development Fund on priority career 

fields. However, it stated that determining which career fields are a 

priority is most appropriately determined by the components. The 

department indicated that the Director, Human Capital Initiatives would 

work with the components to issue guidance that ensures the Defense 

Acquisition Workforce Development Fund is used to best meet both 

enterprise and specific component workforce needs. We believe these 

actions would meet the intent of our recommendation.

In response to our recommendation that the production, quality, and 

manufacturing career field complete an initial competency assessment, 

the department stated that it will complete the initial assessment by the 

end of 2017.

In response to our recommendation to establish time frames for 

completing future career field competency assessments, the department 

agreed and indicated that it will work with acquisition workforce functional 

leaders to establish time frames to complete future career field 

competency assessments, as needed. 

Page 30 GAO-16-80 Defense Acquisition Workforce

Agency Comments

and Our Evaluation
committees, the Secretary of Defense, the Under Secretary of Defense 

for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics, and other interested parties. 

The report is also available at no charge on the GAO website at 

http://www.gao.gov.

Should you or your staff have any questions about this report, please 

contact me at (202) 512-4841 or dinapolit@gao.gov. Contact points for 

our Offices of Congressional Relations and Public Affairs may be found 

on the last page of this report. GAO staff and other major contributors to 

this report are listed in appendix II.

Timothy J. DiNapoli

Director, Acquisition and Sourcing Management

Page 31 GAO-16-80 Defense Acquisition Workforce

We are sending copies of this report to the appropriate congressional 
List of Committees

The Honorable John McCain

Chairman

The Honorable Jack Reed

Ranking Member

Committee on Armed Services

United States Senate

The Honorable Thad Cochran

Chairman

The Honorable Richard Durbin

Ranking Member

Subcommittee on Defense

Committee on Appropriations

United States Senate

The Honorable Mac Thornberry

Chairman

The Honorable Adam Smith

Ranking Member

Committee on Armed Services

House of Representatives

The Honorable Rodney Frelinghuysen

Chairman

The Honorable Pete Visclosky

Ranking Member

Subcommittee on Defense

Committee on Appropriations

House of Representatives

Page 32 GAO-16-80 Defense Acquisition Workforce
Appendix I: Comments from the Department of 

Defense

Page 33 GAO-16-80 Defense Acquisition Workforce

Appendix I: Comments from the Department 

of Defense
Appendix I: Comments from the Department of 

Defense

Page 34 GAO-16-80 Defense Acquisition Workforce
Appendix I: Comments from the Department of 

Defense

Page 35 GAO-16-80 Defense Acquisition Workforce
Appendix II: GAO Contact and Staff 

Acknowledgments

Timothy J. DiNapoli, (202) 512-4841 or dinapolit@gao.gov

In addition to the contact named above, Cheryl Andrew, Assistant 

Director; Miranda Berry; Virginia A. Chanley; Teakoe S. Coleman; Maria 

Durant; Katheryn Hubbell; Heather B. Miller; Jenny Shinn; Robert 

Swierczek; Ozzy Trevino; and Alyssa Weir made key contributions to this 

report.

Page 36 GAO-16-80 Defense Acquisition Workforce

Appendix II: GAO Contact and Staff 

Acknowledgments

GAO Contact

Staff 

Acknowledgments
Appendix III: Accessible Data

Page 37 GAO-16-80 Defense Acquisition Workforce

Mr. Timothy J. DiNapoli

Director, Acquisition and Sourcing Management

U.S. Government Accountability Office 

441 G Street, N.W.

Washington, DC 20548 

Dear Mr. DiNapoli :

This is the Department of Defense (DoD) response to the Government 

Accountability Office (GAO) Draft Report, GA0-16-80, "Defense 

Acquisition Workforce: Multiple Actions Needed to Guide Planning Efforts 

and Improve Workforce Capability" dated November 3, 2015 (GAO Code 

121265). Detailed comments on the report recommendations are 

enclosed.

DoD appreciates GAO's review and assessment of the Department's 

efforts to improve defense acquisition workforce (AWF) capability. 

However, we believe the report's absence of key accomplishments 

understates the Department's monumental efforts and results to improve 

the professionalism of the AWF. The Department accomplished its 

strategic objective to rebuild the AWF - starting at 126,000 and sustaining 

the workforce at over 150,000 since FY 2011 , in spite of major barriers 

(e.g., sequestration , furloughs, hiring freezes). Emphasizing quality, the 

Department significantly improved certification and education levels. 

Today, over 96 percent of the workforce meet position certification 

requirements and 83 percent of the workforce has a bachelor's degree or 

higher. Further, DoD has reshaped and positioned the workforce for 

future success by strengthening early and mid-career workforce year 

groups.

Appendix III: Accessible Data

Agency Comment

Letter

Appendix I: Comments 

from the Department of 

Defense

Page 1
Appendix III: Accessible Data

The Department has also continued its benchmark practices of senior 

leadership advocacy, continuous improvement, inclusive governance 

forums, and comprehensive workforce analysis. Senior leader and 

subject matter expert governance forums meet several times a year, and 

include functional teams who continuously address strategic needs, 

capability gaps, and improved training and development across every 

acquisition career field. The AWF Strategic Plan for Fiscal Year 2016-

2021 will be finalized in early 2016. This plan will document and 

demonstrate the Department's strategy and long term commitment to 

responsibly sustain and continuously improve acquisition workforce 

capability .

Questions regarding this response should be directed to Mr. Charles

Sumpter, charles .sumpter@hci.mil , 703-805-5325.

Rene Thomas-Rizzo

Director, AT&L Human Capital Initiatives

Enclosure: As stated

GAO Draft Report Dated November 3, 2015 GA0-16-80 (GAO CODE 

121265)

"DEFENSE ACQUISITION WORKFORCE: MULTIPLE ACTIONS 

NEEDED TO GUIDE PLANNING EFFORTS AND IMPROVE 

WORKFORCE CAPABILITY"

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE COMMENTS TO THE GAO 

RECOMMENDATION

RECOMMENDATION 1: 

To improve DOD's oversight and management of the acquisition 

workforce, specifically, to ensure that DoD has the right people, with the 

right skills to meet future needs, GAO recommends that the Under 

Secretary of Defense for Acquisition , Technology and Logistics direct the 

Director, Human Capital Initiatives Office to issue an updated acquisition 

workforce plan in fiscal year 2016 that includes revised career field goals.

Page 38 GAO-16-80 Defense Acquisition Workforce

Page 2
Appendix III: Accessible Data

DoD RESPONSE: 

Concur. DoD is currently working on the FY16-FY21 Defense Acquisition 

Workforce Strategic Plan. DoD projects to provide the draft plan for formal 

review by 31 December 2015. DoD believes it has demonstrated , not 

only effective oversight and management , but also proactive monumental 

efforts that have achieved strategic objectives. The Department made 

significant progress towards its FY10-FY15 strategic objective to rebuild 

the AWF. Starting at 126,000, the Department has sustained the 

workforce at over 150,000 since FY 2011, in spite of major challenges 

(e.g., sequestration, furloughs, hiring freezes). The Department 's 

strategic objective now is to responsibly sustain workforce levels based 

on component needs updated as part of annual DoD planning and budget 

processes.

RECOMMENDATION 2: 

To improve DOD's oversight and management of the acquisition 

workforce, specifically, to ensure that DoD has the right people, with the 

right skills to meet future needs, GAO recommends that the Under 

Secretary of Defense for Acquisition,

Technology and Logistics direct the Director, Human Capital Initiatives 

Office to issue guidance to focus component hiring efforts using the 

Defense Acquisition Workforce Development Fund on priority career 

fields.

DoD RESPONSE: 

Concur. DoD agrees that additional guidance on use of the Defense 

Acquisition Workforce Development Fund (DAWDF) is essential to ensure 

that DoD has the right people, with the right skills to meet future needs. 

However , determining which career fields are a priority is most 

appropriately determined by Components . Additionally , the criticality of 

career fields can vary greatly by Component. OUSD(AT&L) will work with 

Components to issue guidance that ensures DAWDF is used to best 

meet both enterprise and specific Component workforce needs.

RECOMMENDATION 3: 

To improve DOD's oversight and management of the acquisition 

workforce, specifically, to ensure that DoD has the right people, with the 

right skills to meet future needs, GAO recommends that the Under 

Page 39 GAO-16-80 Defense Acquisition Workforce
Appendix III: Accessible Data

Secretary of Defense for Acquisition , Technology and Logistics direct the 

Director, Human Capital Initiatives Office to ensure the

functional leader for the production, quality and manufacturing career field 

completes an initial competency assessment.

DoD RESPONSE: 

Concur. DoD will work with the functional leader for the Production, 

Quality and Manufacturing career field to complete an initial competency 

assessment by the end of 2017.

RECOMMENDATION 4: 

To improve DOD's oversight and management of the acquisition 

workforce, specifically , to ensure that DoD has the right people, with the 

right skills to meet future needs, GAO recommends that the Under 

Secretary of Defense for Acquisition , Technology and Logistics direct the 

Director, Human Capital Initiatives Office to establish timeframes, in 

collaboration with functional leaders, to complete future career field 

competency assessments.

DoD RESPONSE: Concur. 

DoD agrees and will work in collaboration with acquisition workforce 

Functional Leaders to establish timeframes to complete future career field 

competency assessments, as needed.

Data Table for Highlights Figure: Difference in Planned and Actual Growth in Five 

Page 40 GAO-16-80 Defense Acquisition Workforce

DOD Priority Career Fields from September 2008 to March 2015.

Number of positions

Contracting -1896

Business -1295

Engineering -338

Audit 33

Program management 1055

Page 4

Data Tables
Appendix III: Accessible Data

Data Table for Figure 1: Defense Acquisition Workforce Size by Component between September 2008 and March 2015

Page 41 GAO-16-80 Defense Acquisition Workforce

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Sept 2008 

baseline

March 2015 

actual Difference

Army 40269 40356 43634 43476 41877 40037 37342 36905 40269 36905 -3364

Navy 43066 46972 51418 52791 53058 53214 53685 54865 43066 54865 11799

Air Force 24827 27174 31382 34147 34637 34534 34395 34857 24827 34857 10030

Other DOD 17717 18601 21271 21477 22754 23570 25043 26024 17717 26024 8307

Data Table for Figure 2: Sources of Defense Acquisition Workforce Growth, 

September 2008 through September 2014

Category

Number

added Percentage

Added military positions 712 3%

Recording (administartive) 2,811 11%

Insourcing 3,400 14%

New civilian hires 1,7663 72%

Total 24,586 100%

Data Table for Figure 3: Acquisition Workforce Demographics, Fiscal Years 2008 and 2014

Over 25 21-25 16-20 11-15 6-10 1-5 Retirement eligible

FY 2008 14500 7461 9539 16182 22982 21315 19051

FY 2014 16476 17270 14433 16371 21286 25741 22435

Data Table for Figure 4: Difference between Planned and Actual Career Field 

Growth between September 2008 and March 2015

Selected career field Number of positions

Contracting -1896

Business -1295

Production quality and manufacturing -731

Engineering -338

Property -121

Purchasing -64

Audit 33

Test and evaluation 881
Appendix III: Accessible Data

Page 42 GAO-16-80 Defense Acquisition Workforce

Selected career field Number of positions

Program management 1055

Facilities engineering 1242

Information technology 1667

Science and technology manager 3032

life cycle logistics 3407

Text for Figure 5: Process Used by the Department of Defense to Assess Skill Gaps

1. Identify baseline competency models

2. Update models based on identification of work situations and 

competencies contributing to successful performance

3. Obtain feedback and refine models

4. Validate models and assess workforce proficiency

5. Identify gaps and monitor progress towards mitigating gaps

Data Table for Figure 6: Difference between Current Career Field Growth and 

Projected Changes through Fiscal Year 2020

Selected career field

Number of 

positions

Mar-15

Number of 

positions FY 

2020

Contracting -1896 -1562

Business -1295 -1394

Production quality and manufacturing -731 -955

Engineering -338 -391

Property -121 -146

Purchasing -64 222

Audit 33 -302

Test and evaluation 881 882

Program management 1055 1103

Facilities engineering 1242 1562

Information technology 1667 1377

Science and technology manager 3032 2989

life cycle logistics 3407 2012
Related GAO Products

Defense Acquisition Workforce

Defense Acquisition Workforce: The Air Force Needs to Evaluate 

Changes in Funding for Civilians Engaged in Space Acquisition. 

GAO-13-638. Washington, D.C.: July 8, 2013.

Defense Acquisition Workforce: Improved Processes, Guidance, and 

Planning Needed to Enhance Use of Workforce Funds. GAO-12-747R. 

Washington, D.C.: June 20, 2012.

Defense Contract Management Agency: Amid Ongoing Efforts to Rebuild 

Capacity, Several Factors Present Challenges in Meeting Its Missions. 

GAO-12-83. Washington, D.C.: November 3, 2011.

Defense Acquisition Workforce: Better Identification, Development, and 

Oversight Needed for Personnel Involved in Acquiring Services. 

GAO-11-892. Washington, D.C.: September 28, 2011.

Department of Defense: Additional Actions and Data Are Needed to 

Effectively Manage and Oversee DOD’s Acquisition Workforce. 

GAO-09-342. Washington, D.C.: March 25, 2009.

Acquisition Workforce: Department of Defense’s Plans to Address 

Workforce Size and Structure Challenges. GAO-02-630. Washington, 

D.C.: April 30, 2002.

Department of Defense Contracted Services

DOD Contract Services: Improved Planning and Implementation of Fiscal 

Controls Needed. GAO-15-115. Washington, D.C.: December 11, 2014.

Defense Contractors: Additional Actions Needed to Facilitate the Use of 

DOD’s Inventory of Contracted Services. GAO-15-88. Washington, D.C.: 

November 19, 2014.

Defense Acquisitions: Update on DOD’s Efforts to Implement a Common 

Contractor Manpower Data System. GAO-14-491R. Washington, D.C.: 

May 19, 2014.

Defense Acquisitions: Continued Management Attention Needed to 

Enhance Use and Review of DOD’s Inventory of Contracted Services. 

GAO-13-491. Washington. D.C.: May 23, 2013.

Page 43 GAO-16-80 Defense Acquisition Workforce

Related GAO Products
Related GAO Products

Defense Acquisitions: Further Actions Needed to Improve Accountability 

for DOD’s Inventory of Contracted Services. GAO-12-357. Washington, 

D.C.: April 6, 2012.

Human Capital

Human Capital: DOD Should Fully Develop Its Civilian Strategic 

Workforce Plan to Aid Decision Makers. GAO-14-565. Washington, D.C.: 

July 9, 2014.

Human Capital: Strategies to Help Agencies Meet Their Missions in an 

Era of Highly Constrained Resources. GAO-14-168. Washington, D.C.: 

May 7, 2014.

Human Capital: Additional Steps Needed to Help Determine the Right 

Size and Composition of DOD’s Total Workforce. GAO-13-470. 

Washington, D.C.: May 29, 2013.

Human Capital: Critical Skills and Competency Assessments Should Help 

Guide DOD Civilian Workforce Decisions. GAO-13-188. Washington, 

D.C.: January 17, 2013.

Human Capital: DOD Needs Complete Assessments to Improve Future 

Civilian Strategic Workforce Plans. GAO-12-1014. Washington, D.C.: 

September 27, 2012.

Human Capital: Further Actions Needed to Enhance DOD’s Civilian 

Strategic Workforce Plan. GAO-10-814R. Washington, D.C.: September 

27, 2010.

Human Capital: A Guide for Assessing Strategic Training and 

Development Efforts in the Federal Government. GAO-04-546G. 

Washington, D.C.: March 1, 2004.

Human Capital: Key Principles for Effective Strategic Workforce Planning. 

GAO-04-39. Washington, D.C.: December 11, 2003.

Other Related Reports

High-Risk Series: An Update. GAO-15-290. Washington, D.C.: February 

11, 2015.

Page 44 GAO-16-80 Defense Acquisition Workforce
Related GAO Products

Federal Workforce: OPM and Agencies Need to Strengthen Efforts to 

Identify and Close Mission-Critical Skills Gaps. GAO-15-223. Washington, 

D.C.: January 30, 2015.

Defense Headquarters: DOD Needs to Reassess Personnel 

Requirements for the Office of Secretary of Defense, Joint Staff, and 

Military Service Secretariats. GAO-15-10. Washington, D.C.: January 21, 

2015.

Sequestration: Observations on the Department of Defense’s Approach in 

Fiscal Year 2013. GAO-14-177R. Washington, D.C.: November 7, 2013.

DOD Civilian Workforce: Observations on DOD’s Efforts to Plan for 

Civilian Workforce Requirements. GAO-12-962T. Washington, D.C.: July 

26, 2012.

Defense Workforce: DOD Needs to Better Oversee In-sourcing Data and 

Align In-sourcing Efforts with Strategic Workforce Plans. GAO-12-319. 

Washington, D.C.: February 9, 2012.

Page 45 GAO-16-80 Defense Acquisition Workforce (121265)
The Government Accountability Office, the audit, evaluation, and 

investigative arm of Congress, exists to support Congress in meeting its 

constitutional responsibilities and to help improve the performance and 

accountability of the federal government for the American people. GAO 

examines the use of public funds; evaluates federal programs and 

policies; and provides analyses, recommendations, and other assistance 

to help Congress make informed oversight, policy, and funding decisions. 

GAO’s commitment to good government is reflected in its core values of 

accountability, integrity, and reliability.

The fastest and easiest way to obtain copies of GAO documents at no 

cost is through GAO’s website (http://www.gao.gov). Each weekday 

afternoon, GAO posts on its website newly released reports, testimony, 

and correspondence. To have GAO e-mail you a list of newly posted 

products, go to http://www.gao.gov and select “E-mail Updates.”

The price of each GAO publication reflects GAO’s actual cost of 

production and distribution and depends on the number of pages in the 

publication and whether the publication is printed in color or black and 

white. Pricing and ordering information is posted on GAO’s website, 

http://www.gao.gov/ordering.htm. 

Place orders by calling (202) 512-6000, toll free (866) 801-7077, or 

TDD (202) 512-2537.

Orders may be paid for using American Express, Discover Card, 

MasterCard, Visa, check, or money order. Call for additional information.

Connect with GAO on Facebook, Flickr, Twitter, and YouTube.

Subscribe to our RSS Feeds or E-mail Updates. 

Listen to our Podcasts and read The Watchblog.

Visit GAO on the web at www.gao.gov.

Contact:

Website: http://www.gao.gov/fraudnet/fraudnet.htm

E-mail: fraudnet@gao.gov

Automated answering system: (800) 424-5454 or (202) 512-7470

Katherine Siggerud, Managing Director, siggerudk@gao.gov, (202) 512-

4400, U.S. Government Accountability Office, 441 G Street NW, Room 

7125, Washington, DC 20548

Chuck Young, Managing Director, youngc1@gao.gov, (202) 512-4800

U.S. Government Accountability Office, 441 G Street NW, Room 7149 

Washington, DC 20548

GAO’s Mission

Obtaining Copies of 

GAO Reports and 

Testimony

Order by Phone

Connect with GAO

To Report Fraud, 

Waste, and Abuse in 

Federal Programs

Congressional 

Relations

Public Affairs

PleasrintoRecyldPapr.