DEFENSE 

ACQUISITION 

WORKFORCE

DOD Has 

Opportunities to 

Further Enhance Use 

and Management of 

Development Fund

Report to the Chairman, Committee on 

Armed Services, House of 

Representatives

March 2017

GAO-17-332

United States Government Accountability Office
United States Government Accountability Office

Highlights of GAO-17-332, a report to the 

Chairman, Committee on Armed Services, 

House of Representatives

March 2017

DEFENSE ACQUISITION WORKFORCE

DOD Has Opportunities to Further Enhance 

Use and Management of Development Fund

What GAO Found

The Department of Defense (DOD), enabled by congressional action, has 

improved the timeliness of the funding process for the Defense Acquisition 

Workforce Development Fund (DAWDF). For fiscal year 2015, DOD was 

authorized to transfer expired funds, which allowed it to fund DAWDF in 2 

months. In contrast, for fiscal year 2014, DOD relied on the military departments 

and other defense agencies (referred to as components) to remit funds to the 

DOD Comptroller, which took 24 months to complete. As a result, hiring, training,

and other initiatives were delayed. Congress also took action in 2016 to reduce 

the amount of funding carried over from year to year, which totaled $875 million 

at the beginning of fiscal year 2016, or nearly twice the amount DOD eventually 

obligated for that year (see figure). GAO estimates that the amount of carryover 

funds at the beginning of fiscal year 2018 will be reduced to about $156 million. 

Defense Acquisition Workforce Development Fund (DAWDF) Funding Carried Over from Year 

to Year Is Expected to Decrease Significantly by Fiscal Year 2018

In the past year, DOD has taken several actions to improve its management and 

oversight of DAWDF, including issuing an updated acquisition workforce 

strategic plan and DAWDF operating guidance. For example, DOD’s August 

2016 DAWDF guidance required components to submit annual and 5-year 

spending plans and formalized the requirement to hold a midyear review to 

assess DAWDF execution and discuss best practices. However, GAO found that 

DOD components identified more than $3 billion in potential DAWDF funding 

requirements for fiscal years 2018 through 2022, which may exceed available 

funding over this period. Clearly aligning DAWDF funding with DOD’s strategic 

plan—as GAO recommended in June 2012—may help DOD determine how to 

prioritize these requirements. GAO also found that components’ guidance, 

practices, and views on whether they could use DAWDF to pay for personnel to 

manage the fund varied. Further, GAO found components did not have 

processes to verify the accuracy and completeness of data reported on DAWDFfunded initiatives. Internal control standards indicate that consistent policies and 

accurate data can help ensure that funds are used effectively and as intended. 

Without such controls, DOD could be missing opportunities to use DAWDF more 

effectively to improve its acquisition workforce.

View GAO-17-332. For more information, 

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

or dinapolit@gao.gov.

Why GAO Did This Study

Congress established DAWDF in 2008 

to provide DOD with a dedicated 

source of funding to help recruit and 

train members of the acquisition 

workforce. Since 2008, DOD has 

obligated more than $3.5 billion to 

meet those objectives. However, in 

2012, GAO reported that DOD’s ability 

to execute hiring and other initiatives 

had been hindered by delays in the 

DAWDF funding process, resulting in a 

large amount of unused funds being 

carried over from year to year.

GAO was asked to review DOD’s 

management of DAWDF. This report 

examines (1) the process DOD uses to 

fund DAWDF and (2) DOD’s DAWDF 

management and oversight. GAO 

analyzed relevant legislation; DOD’s, 

the military departments’, and other 

defense agencies’ guidance and 

processes; and DAWDF budget and 

initiative execution data. GAO also 

interviewed DOD officials and 

conducted a nongeneralizable sample 

of 10 fiscal year 2015 DAWDF 

initiatives based on type of initiative

and dollar value. 

What GAO Recommends

DOD should (1) clarify whether 

DAWDF funds could be used to pay for 

personnel to help manage the fund and 

(2) ensure that DOD components have 

processes in place to verify the 

accuracy and completeness of 

DAWDF data. DOD partially concurred 

with both recommendations, and has 

taken or plans to take actions to 

address them.
Page i GAO-17-332 Defense Acquisition Workforce

Letter 1

Background 3

Congressional Actions Have Enabled DOD to Overcome Previous 

DAWDF Funding Challenges 10

DOD Has Taken Some Steps to Improve Management and 

Oversight of the Fund, but Opportunities Exist to Improve 

Guidance and Data Quality 16

Conclusions 26

Recommendations for Executive Action 27

Agency Comments and Our Evaluation 27

Appendix I Objectives, Scope, and Methodology 29

Appendix II Comments from the Department of Defense 34

Appendix III GAO Contact and Staff Acknowledgments 36

Tables

Table 1: Amount Credited to the Defense Acquisition Workforce 

Development Fund (DAWDF) Balances by Funding 

Process 5

Table 2: Roles and Responsibilities of Key Department of Defense 

(DOD) Organizations Involved in Defense Acquisition 

Workforce Development Fund (DAWDF) Management 7

Table 3: Defense Acquisition Workforce Oversight Boards 8

Table 4: Goals and Examples of Defense Acquisition Workforce 

Development Fund (DAWDF)–Related Strategic Priorities 

in the Department of Defense Acquisition Workforce 

Strategic Plan for Fiscal Years 2016-2021 17

Table 5: Component Defense Acquisition Workforce Development 

Fund Budget Estimates, Fiscal Years 2017 through 2022 21

Table 6: Initiatives Supported by the Defense Acquisition 

Workforce Development Fund in Fiscal Year 2015 That 

GAO Reviewed 31

Table 7: Number of Recipients of Student Loan Repayments and 

Tuition Assistance That GAO Reviewed 32

Contents
Page ii GAO-17-332 Defense Acquisition Workforce

Figures

Figure 1: Defense Acquisition Workforce Development Fund 

Obligations in Three Major Categories, Fiscal Years 2008 

through 2016 6

Figure 2: Time to Complete Funding Process for Defense 

Acquisition Workforce Development Fund in Fiscal Years 

2014 and 2015 12

Figure 3: Defense Acquisition Workforce Development Fund 

(DAWDF) Obligations Compared to Approved DAWDF 

Initiatives, Fiscal Years 2011 through 2016 14

Figure 4: Defense Acquisition Workforce Development Fund 

(DAWDF) Obligations and Beginning of Year Carryover 

Balance, Fiscal Years 2011 through 2018 15

Abbreviations

DACM Director, Acquisition Career Management

DAWDF Defense Acquisition Workforce Development Fund

DOD Department of Defense

HCI Human Capital Initiatives

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Page 1 GAO-17-332 Defense Acquisition Workforce

441 G St. N.W.

Washington, DC 20548

March 28, 2017

The Honorable Mac Thornberry

Chairman

Committee on Armed Services

House of Representatives

Dear Mr. Chairman:

In 2008, Congress established the Department of Defense Acquisition 

Workforce Development Fund (DAWDF) to provide a dedicated source of 

funding to recruit, train, and retain members of the Department of 

Defense’s (DOD) acquisition workforce.1 The purpose of DAWDF is to 

ensure that the DOD acquisition workforce has the capacity, in both 

personnel and skills, to (1) properly perform its mission, (2) provide 

appropriate oversight of contractor performance, and (3) ensure that the 

department receives the best value for the expenditure of public 

resources. So far, about $4.5 billion has been deposited into the DAWDF 

account for these purposes. Of this amount, DOD has obligated more 

than $3.5 billion as of September 2016.

Congress has expressed concern about the amount of unobligated 

balances in the DAWDF account that have been carried over from one 

fiscal year to the next (referred to as carryover). Given the continued level 

of carryover funds that DOD reported to Congress—$875 million at the 

beginning of fiscal year 2016—you asked us to review DOD’s execution 

of DAWDF. This report examines (1) the process DOD uses to fund 

DAWDF and (2) DOD’s management and oversight of DAWDF initiatives.

To examine the process DOD uses to fund DAWDF, we reviewed 

relevant legislation and DOD-wide and military department–level 

guidance on the use of DAWDF. We analyzed DOD reports that identified 

how the funds were used and the amount of carryover and estimated 

carryover funds from fiscal years 2008 through 2018. We also assessed 

whether DOD had improved the timeliness of its funding process by 

comparing data on key points in the funding process, including when the 

DOD Comptroller deposited funds into the DAWDF account, and 

 1

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

(codified as amended at 10 U.S.C. § 1705). 

Letter
Page 2 GAO-17-332 Defense Acquisition Workforce

analyzed documentation showing when the funds were allotted and 

obligated from fiscal years 2008 through 2016.

To assess DOD’s management and oversight of DAWDF initiatives, we 

reviewed the Department of Defense Acquisition Workforce Strategic 

Plan, FY 2016 – FY 2021, which was completed in October 2016, and 

DOD’s August 2016 DAWDF Desk Operating Guide. We also analyzed 

DAWDF future spending estimates from fiscal year 2017 through fiscal 

year 2022 submitted by each of the military departments and other 

defense agencies (collectively referred to in this report as components). 

In addition, we analyzed monthly DAWDF spend reports, DAWDF 

midyear review documentation, briefing materials from DAWDF 

governance meetings, and DOD’s fiscal year 2015 report to Congress. 

We discuss instances of incomplete and inaccurate data where 

appropriate in the report. Finally, we reviewed a nongeneralizable sample 

of 10 fiscal year 2015 DAWDF-funded initiatives, which were selected 

based on DOD component, type of initiative, and dollar value. To verify 

whether military department recipients of DAWDF-funded tuition 

assistance and student loan repayment programs were members of the 

defense acquisition workforce the year they received the benefit, we 

selected a nongeneralizable sample of 276 recipients across the military 

departments for fiscal year 2015. We compared the sample against 

DOD’s acquisition workforce database and determined that the data were 

sufficiently reliable for the purposes of this report.

For both objectives, we interviewed knowledgeable officials from the 

Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller) and Chief 

Financial Officer; the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for 

Acquisition, Technology and Logistics - Human Capital Initiatives (HCI); 

and four DOD components—the Army, the Air Force, the Navy, and the 

Defense Logistics Agency—that receive DAWDF funding. Together, 

these four DOD components constitute 88 percent of DOD’s fiscal year 

2015 acquisition workforce and received a majority of fiscal year 2015 

DAWDF funding. See appendix I for more information about our overall 

scope and methodology.

We conducted this performance audit from March 2016 to March 2017 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.
Page 3 GAO-17-332 Defense Acquisition Workforce

DOD’s acquisition mission represents the largest buying enterprise in the 

world. The defense acquisition workforce—which consists of military and 

civilian program managers, contracting officers, engineers, logisticians, 

and cost estimators, among others—is responsible for effectively 

awarding and administering contracts totaling more than $250 billion 

annually.2 The contracts may be for major weapon systems, support for 

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

things. 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.

DOD’s acquisition workforce experienced significant cuts during the 

1990s following the end of the Cold War and, by the early 2000s, began 

relying more heavily on contractors to perform many acquisition support 

functions. DOD reported that from 1998 through 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 growing reliance on contractors and skill gaps within 

the military and civilian acquisition workforce, in April 2009, the Secretary 

of Defense announced his intention to rebalance the workforce mix to 

ensure that the federal government has sufficient personnel to oversee its 

acquisition process. To support that objective, DOD’s April 2010 strategic 

workforce plan stated that DOD would add 20,000 military and civilian 

personnel to its workforce by fiscal year 2015.

Further, in 2008, Congress created DAWDF, codified in section 1705 of 

title 10 of the U.S. Code, to provide DOD a dedicated source of funding 

for rebuilding capacity, improving quality, and rebalancing the workforce. 

Congress has specified in statute the level of DAWDF funding for a given 

fiscal year and has adjusted that level several times. For example, the 

National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010 specified $100 

million for fiscal year 2010; $770 million for fiscal year 2011; $900 million 

for fiscal year 2012; $1.2 billion for fiscal year 2013; $1.3 billion for fiscal 

year 2014; and $1.5 billion for fiscal year 2015. In the National Defense 

 2

Pursuant to the Defense Acquisition Workforce Improvement Act, DOD identified 13 

career fields and designated acquisition-related positions held by military or civilian 

personnel. Pub. L. No. 101-510, §§ 1201-1211 (1990) (relevant sections codified as 

amended at 10 U.S.C. §§ 1701-1764). The workforce currently includes 16 acquisition 

career fields. 

Background
Page 4 GAO-17-332 Defense Acquisition Workforce

Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013, Congress extended the 

requirement for DOD to fund DAWDF through 2018 and revised the 

funding levels to $500 million for fiscal year 2013; $800 million for fiscal 

year 2014; $700 million for fiscal year 2015; $600 million for fiscal year 

2016; $500 million for fiscal year 2017; and $400 million for fiscal year 

2018. Currently, the law mandates $500 million in DAWDF funding for a 

fiscal year. However, the law also authorizes the Secretary of Defense to 

reduce annual funding if the Secretary determines that the mandated 

amount is greater than what is reasonably needed for a fiscal year. The 

amount may not be reduced to less than $400 million for a fiscal year.3

Section 1705 of title 10, U.S. Code, specifies three ways that DAWDF can 

be funded:

• Appropriations made for DAWDF. Appropriations were made for the 

fund in fiscal years 2010 through 2015 and were available for 

obligation for 1 fiscal year—the fiscal year for which they were 

appropriated.

• Credits, or funds that are remitted by DOD components from 

operation and maintenance accounts.

4 Funds credited to the account 

are available for obligation in the fiscal year for which they are 

credited and in the 2 succeeding fiscal years.

• Transfers of expired funds. During the 3-year period following the 

expiration of appropriations to DOD for research, development, test 

and evaluation; procurement; or operation and maintenance, DOD 

may transfer such funds to DAWDF to the extent provided in 

appropriations acts. To date, Congress has granted authority for DOD 

to transfer operation and maintenance funds included in the 

appropriations acts for fiscal years 2014, 2015, and 2016 to DAWDF.5

Funds transferred to DAWDF are available for obligation in the fiscal 

 3

10 U.S.C. § 1705(d)(2). 

4

The statutory requirement mandates that each component remit to DAWDF, not later 

than 30 days after the end of the first quarter of each fiscal year, operation and 

maintenance funds in an amount equal to a percentage of the amount expended by such 

component during such fiscal year for contract services. 10 U.S.C. § 1705(d)(2).

5

Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2014, Pub. L. No. 113-76, div. C, tit. VIII, § 

8094; Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2015, Pub. L. No. 113-235, div. C, tit. 

VII, § 8099; Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2016, Pub. L. No. 114-113, div. C, 

tit. VIII, § 8095.
Page 5 GAO-17-332 Defense Acquisition Workforce

year for which they are transferred and in the 2 succeeding fiscal 

years.

Under current law, DOD is required to credit the fund $500 million for a 

fiscal year, as previously mentioned. However, the law directs that the 

amount required to be remitted by DOD components be reduced by any 

amounts appropriated for or transferred to DAWDF for that fiscal year.6

Collectively, from fiscal years 2008 through 2016, about $4.5 billion has 

been deposited into DAWDF using various combinations of these 

processes (see table 1).

Table 1: Amount Credited to the Defense Acquisition Workforce Development Fund (DAWDF) Balances by Funding Process 

Dollars in millions

Fiscal year

Appropriations 

for DAWDF Creditsa Transfersb Total

2008 —- 255 —- 255

2009 —- 702 —- 702

2010 100 —- —- 100

2011 209 400 —- 609

2012 106 615 —- 720

2013 49 354 —- 403

2014 51 589 —- 640

2015 79 —- 477 556

2016 —- —- 500 500c

Total 594 2,915 977 4,485

Source: GAO presentation of Department of Defense (DOD) data from annual DAWDF report to Congress and documentation from the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller) and Chief Financial 

Officer as of January 2017. | GAO-17-332

Note: Numbers may not sum to totals because of rounding.

a

Credits are funds remitted by DOD components to DAWDF.

b

Transfers are expired funds that DOD is permitted by statute to transfer to DAWDF.

c

In July 2016, DOD transferred $400 million into DAWDF. In January 2017, the Under Secretary of 

Defense (Comptroller) and Chief Financial Officer transferred an additional $100 million into DAWDF 

for fiscal year 2016.

From fiscal years 2008 through 2016, DOD obligated about $2.2 billion—

or about 60 percent—for recruiting and hiring and about $1.2 billion—32 

percent—for training and development. The remaining $269 million, or 7 

percent, was used for retention and recognition. To help support 

rebuilding the workforce, DOD obligated the most funds for recruiting and 

 6

10 U.S.C. § 1705(d)(4). 
Page 6 GAO-17-332 Defense Acquisition Workforce

hiring through fiscal year 2015; however, in fiscal year 2016, DOD 

obligated slightly more for training and development than for recruiting 

and hiring (see fig. 1).

Figure 1: Defense Acquisition Workforce Development Fund Obligations in Three 

Major Categories, Fiscal Years 2008 through 2016

Note: The Department of Defense obligated $17 million for training in fiscal year 2008. 
Page 7 GAO-17-332 Defense Acquisition Workforce

Several organizations within DOD play key roles in the management and 

oversight of DAWDF (see table 2).

Table 2: Roles and Responsibilities of Key Department of Defense (DOD) Organizations Involved in Defense Acquisition 

Workforce Development Fund (DAWDF) Management

Office Selected DAWDF responsibilities

Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller) 

and Chief Financial Officer

• Ensures that DAWDF funding amounts, determined by the Secretary of Defense, 

are appropriately credited to the DAWDF account

• Provides support for the administration of DAWDF

Office of the Under Secretary of Defense 

for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics -

Human Capital Initiatives (HCI)

• Serves as the program manager for DAWDF

• Responsible for DAWDF policies and guidance

• Responsible for DAWDF current and future years budget development and 

execution

• Reviews and approves components’ annual DAWDF requirements

• Ensures that all requirements are aligned with DOD’s Strategic Plan 

Director, Acquisition Career 

Management (DACM) office for 

each military department and other 

defense agencies

• Serves as program manager for the component’s DAWDF program

• Reviews DAWDF proposals and initiatives and ensures that they are aligned with 

strategic goals and acquisition executive priorities

• Reports status of DAWDF funds monthly to HCI

• Compiles and provides annual and future DAWDF requirements and spending 

plans and a projected annual and future hiring plan

• Serves as the key advisor for policy, coordination, implementation, and oversight of 

acquisition workforce programs within the component

Acquisition commands within each military 

department and other defense agencies

• Identify DAWDF funding proposals and submit them to either the cognizant DACM, 

or in the case of some defense agencies, directly to HCI for approval

• Implement DAWDF initiatives 

Sources: GAO analysis of DOD information and GAO-16-80. | GAO-17-332

DOD’s acquisition workforce management framework includes centralized 

policy, decentralized execution by the DOD components, and joint 

governance forums. DOD established the Senior Steering Board and the 

Workforce Management Group in 2008 to oversee DAWDF activities. The 

senior acquisition executives for the military departments, DOD functional 

acquisition career field leaders, and heads of major DOD agencies were 

designated as members of the Senior Steering Board, along with 

representatives from the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense 

(Comptroller) and Chief Financial Officer and the Office of the Under 

Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness. This board is 

expected to meet quarterly and provide strategic oversight of DAWDF. 

The Workforce Management Group includes representatives from the 

offices on the Senior Steering Board, among others. It is expected to 

Organizations 

Responsible for DAWDF
Page 8 GAO-17-332 Defense Acquisition Workforce

meet bimonthly and oversee DAWDF operations and management (see 

table 3).

Table 3: 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 the Department of Defense 

(DOD) components, the functional leaders, 

and others, as appropriate

• Governs and oversees the Defense Acquisition 

Workforce Development Fund (DAWDF)

• Aligns DAWDF with DOD’s Civilian Human Capital 

Strategic Plan and related initiatives

• Allots DAWDF funds 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

• Advises the Senior Steering Board regarding 

management and use of DAWDF, including 

alignment with strategic objectives and guidance

• Oversees DAWDF initiatives and execution plans, 

and ensures that these support statutory intent and 

strategic objectives

• Assists DOD leadership and components with 

annual update to Congress on the acquisition 

workforce

Source: GAO presentation of DOD data. I GA0-17-332

In June 2012, we reported on DOD’s initial implementation of DAWDF; 

we found that the ability of DOD components to effectively plan for and 

execute efforts supported by DAWDF was hindered by delays in DOD’s 

DAWDF funding processes and the absence of clear guidance on the 

availability and use of funds.7 We also found that HCI and Comptroller 

officials had differing views on how best to manage the DAWDF funding 

process. Comptroller officials acknowledged that they delayed sending 

out credit remittance notices and allowed components to delay crediting 

DAWDF funds. At that time, we recommended that DOD revise its 

DAWDF guidance to clarify when and how DAWDF funds should be 

collected, distributed, and used. We also recommended that DOD clearly 

align DAWDF’s funding strategy with the department’s strategic human 

capital plan for the acquisition workforce. DOD concurred with these 

recommendations. In October 2016, DOD completed an updated 

acquisition workforce strategic plan. We discuss our assessment of the 

 7

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).

Prior GAO Work
Page 9 GAO-17-332 Defense Acquisition Workforce

extent to which DOD has taken action to address these recommendations 

later in this report.

Further, we also recommended in June 2012 that DOD establish 

performance metrics for DAWDF to allow senior leadership to track how 

the fund is being used to support DOD’s acquisition workforce 

improvement goals. DOD concurred and subsequently established four 

metrics to track the defense acquisition workforce: (1) the size of the 

acquisition workforce, (2) the shape of the acquisition workforce, (3) 

defense acquisition workforce improvement act certification rates, and (4) 

the education level of acquisition workforce personnel. In its October 

2016 acquisition workforce strategic plan, DOD reported that the 

cumulative efforts of the DOD components from fiscal year 2008 through 

fiscal year 2015 increased the size of the acquisition workforce by 24 

percent, from about 126,000 to 156,000 personnel. The department 

accomplished this by hiring additional personnel, converting contractor 

positions to civilian positions, adding military personnel to the acquisition 

workforce, and administratively recoding existing personnel.8 DAWDF 

contributed to this success by helping to increase the size of the 

acquisition workforce and achieve a better balance of early-, mid-, and 

senior-career personnel. DOD reported that more than 96 percent of the 

acquisition workforce either met or was on track to meet certification 

requirements within required time frames. DOD also reported that the 

number of personnel with bachelor’s degrees or higher increased from 77 

percent in fiscal year 2008 to 84 percent in fiscal year 2015, while those 

with graduate degrees increased from 29 percent to 39 percent over the 

same time period. These changes were accomplished during a period of 

budget uncertainties and sequestration, during which time DOD imposed 

hiring freezes and curtailed travel, training, and conferences, among other 

actions.9

In December 2015, we reported that DOD had accomplished some of its 

goals in rebuilding the acquisition workforce and used DAWDF to help in

 8

Recoding existing personnel does not result in an increase in DOD’s workforce capacity 

because personnel continued to perform the same duties.

9

The Budget Control Act of 2011, Pub. L. No. 112-25, established, among other things, 

spending caps and an accompanying sequestration procedure through 2021. The 

Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013, Pub. L. No. 113, 67, div. A, extended the budget caps and 

sequestration through 2023. 
Page 10 GAO-17-332 Defense Acquisition Workforce

these efforts.10 While DOD increased the size of its acquisition workforce, 

we found that it had not reached its targets for 6 of 13 acquisition career 

fields, including those for 3 priority fields—contracting, engineering, and 

business. To ensure that DOD has the right people with the right skills to 

meet future needs, we recommended that DOD complete competency 

assessments, issue an updated acquisition workforce strategic plan, and 

issue guidance on prioritizing the use of funding. DOD concurred with our 

recommendations. We discuss DOD’s efforts to address these 

recommendations later in this report.

DOD, enabled by recent congressional action, has improved its ability to

fund DAWDF, which allowed DOD to fund DAWDF in 2 months, 

compared to the 24 months the credit funding process took in fiscal year 

2014. Specifically, in the DOD Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2014, 

Congress authorized DOD to transfer operation and maintenance funds 

appropriated by the act to DAWDF consistent with section 1705 of title 10 

of the U.S. Code, which permits DOD to transfer expired funds for 3 years 

following their expiration.

11 The operation and maintenance funds 

appropriated under the act expired at the end of fiscal year 2014, so the 

transfer authority authorized by Congress and section 1705 of title 10 

gives DOD the authority to transfer expired fiscal year 2014 funds to 

DAWDF in fiscal years 2015 through 2017. Congress subsequently 

enacted such transfer authority for both fiscal years 2015 and 2016.12 As 

a result, DOD is authorized to fund DAWDF by transferring expired fiscal 

year 2015 funds through fiscal year 2018 and expired fiscal year 2016 

funds through fiscal year 2019.

Enabled by this authority, the DOD Comptroller funded DAWDF with $477 

million of expired funds in one transaction for fiscal year 2015 and $400 

 10GAO, Defense Acquisition Workforce: Actions Needed to Guide Planning Efforts and 

Improve Workforce Capability, GAO-16-80 (Washington, D.C.: Dec. 14, 2015). 

11Pub. L. No. 113-76, div. C, tit. VIII, § 8094; 10 U.S.C. § 1705(d)(3). 

12Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2015, Pub. L. No. 113-235, div. C, tit. VIII, § 

8099; Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2016, Pub. L. No. 114-113, div. C, tit. 

VIII, § 8095. 

Congressional 

Actions Have 

Enabled DOD to 

Overcome Previous 

DAWDF Funding 

Challenges
Page 11 GAO-17-332 Defense Acquisition Workforce

million of expired funds in one transaction for fiscal year 2016.13 The DOD 

Comptroller then allotted those funds to HCI in a single transaction for

each of those fiscal years. Our analysis found that it took 2 months from 

the time that DOD submitted its written determination of the amount of 

DAWDF funding required for fiscal year 2015, from June 23, 2015, to 

when the DOD Comptroller transferred the funds into the DAWDF 

account on August 24, 2015. HCI officials said that as a result of the 

ability to transfer expired funds, they were able to distribute, or sub-allot, 

to components 75 percent of their approved fiscal year 2016 funding 

before the start of the fiscal year.

In contrast, DOD often experienced delays in its previous funding 

process. Prior to 2015, DOD primarily relied on credits remitted by the 

DOD components to meet DAWDF funding requirements. To complete 

this process, the Comptroller calculated each component’s share of the 

required credit based on the amount specified in the law, offset by the 

amount of any annual appropriations made for DAWDF. The Comptroller 

then sent a notice to each component specifying the amount of the credit 

it was to remit by a specific date. After the components remitted the 

funds, the Comptroller allotted those funds to HCI, which in turn suballotted DAWDF funds to the components based on their approved plans 

for that year.

When DAWDF was first enacted, credits were to be remitted to the fund 

not later than 30 days after the end of each fiscal quarter. In 2009, 

Congress amended the DAWDF legislation to require DOD components 

to remit credit funding not later than 30 days after the end of the first 

quarter of each fiscal year.14 However, our analysis found that under the 

credit funding process, the DOD Comptroller delayed sending out credit 

remittance notices and allowed components to delay remitting funds to 

DAWDF. In 2012, Comptroller officials said that they generally did not 

begin the process of collecting and distributing DAWDF funds before 

DOD received its annual appropriations to minimize the amount of credit 

funding collected from other DOD programs and that the funds should not 

 13DOD funded DAWDF in the last quarter of the fiscal year for both fiscal years 2015 and 

2016 because there were sufficient carryover funds to cover initiatives planned for those 2 

years and the first quarters of fiscal years 2016 and 2017. At the end of fiscal year 2016, 

for example, there was $435 million in carryover, or 75 percent of fiscal year 2017 

requirements.

14National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010, Pub. L. No. 111-84, § 832 

(2009).
Page 12 GAO-17-332 Defense Acquisition Workforce

be collected until necessary for DAWDF. These officials noted that this 

was particularly important during a continuing resolution period where 

DOD’s funding is often limited to the prior year’s appropriation level or 

less, which puts additional stress on other programs required to

contribute funds to DAWDF. As a result, DOD components did not 

complete remitting credit funds within the time frames required by DOD 

for any year that the credit funding process was used.

For example, the notice for fiscal year 2013 was sent in June 2013 and 

required components to remit credits by October 2013. However, the 

remittance process was not completed until September 2014, or 11 

months past the required deadline. Similarly, for fiscal year 2014, the 

remittance process was not completed until May 2016, or 24 months after 

DOD submitted its written determination of the amount of DAWDF funding 

required for the fiscal year—the initiation of the funding process. Figure 2

compares the length of time between the initiation of the fiscal year 2014 

funding process and the last credit remittance of DAWDF funding, to the 

fiscal year 2015 time frames for transferring expired funds.

Figure 2: Time to Complete Funding Process for Defense Acquisition Workforce Development Fund in Fiscal Years 2014 and 

2015

Despite the improved timeliness of funding DAWDF by transferring 

expired funds, DOD experienced a significant increase in the amount of 

carryover funds by the beginning of fiscal year 2016. Specifically, the 

carryover balance increased from $129 million as of October 1, 2014, to 

$875 million as of October 1, 2015, or nearly twice the amount DOD 

eventually obligated in fiscal year 2016. The growth in the amount of 
Page 13 GAO-17-332 Defense Acquisition Workforce

carryover was primarily due to the delay in the remittance of $509 million 

in funding for fiscal year 2014—or about 86 percent of the amount to be 

credited for that year—until 2015. As a result, about $869 million was 

deposited into HCI’s DAWDF account during fiscal year 2015, while 

components only obligated $358 million that year. Additional factors also 

contributed to the large carryover balance:

• According to HCI officials, DOD’s requirements were sometimes less 

than the minimum amount that DOD was required to put into DAWDF. 

For fiscal year 2014, for example, Congress mandated $800 million in 

DAWDF funding (which was reduced by the Secretary of Defense to 

$640 million, as permitted by the law), but the components only 

planned to obligate $498 million.

• HCI and component officials told us that delays in remittances and 

additional factors, such as hiring freezes, affected DAWDF execution 

for several years. Despite having $129 million in carryover funds, HCI 

instructed DOD components to delay execution of hiring and other 

planned fiscal year 2015 initiatives. HCI officials told us that because 

of the uncertainty of when the fiscal year 2014 credits would be 

remitted, they had to ensure that they had sufficient funds to pay the 

salaries of the personnel who had been hired in the previous 2 years 

using DAWDF funds. In addition, DOD components did not always 

obligate all of their DAWDF funding for each fiscal year. For example, 

for fiscal year 2015, the Defense Contract Management Agency 

requested $84.4 million in funding for hiring, training, and retention 

initiatives and was only able to obligate $61.9 million in that year. 

Similarly, in fiscal year 2015, the Air Force Materiel Command 

planned to spend $5.7 million in DAWDF funding for recruiting 

incentives. However, Air Force officials told us that because of delays 

in the remittance of fiscal year 2014 funds from the components, the 

Air Force was instructed to delay its hiring plans, which in turn 

affected the number of personnel available to accept the recruiting 

incentives offered. Of the $5.7 million approved for recruiting 

incentives that fiscal year, the command was only able to obligate 

$1.3 million. Overall, from fiscal years 2011 through 2016, DOD 

components obligated between 68 and 92 percent of the amount that 

HCI approved them to spend (see fig. 3).
Page 14 GAO-17-332 Defense Acquisition Workforce

Figure 3: Defense Acquisition Workforce Development Fund (DAWDF) Obligations 

Compared to Approved DAWDF Initiatives, Fiscal Years 2011 through 2016

Congress acted to reduce the carryover balance in the National Defense 

Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017. The act requires, during fiscal year 

2017, DOD to transfer $475 million to the Treasury from amounts 

available from credits to DAWDF. The act also requires DOD to transfer 

$225 million of the funds required to be credited to DAWDF in fiscal year 

2017 to the Rapid Prototyping Fund.15 When coupled with DOD’s fiscal 

year 2017 spending and funding plans, we estimate that these actions will 

result in a carryover balance of about $156 million at the beginning of 

fiscal year 2018 in the DAWDF account, or about 26 percent of DOD’s 

estimated fiscal year 2018 spending (see fig. 4).16

 15National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017, Pub. L. No. 114-328, §§ 864, 

1005 (2016). 

16Our estimate is based on DOD components’ plans to spend a total of $579 million on 

DAWDF initiatives in fiscal year 2017, which were approved by HCI in September 2016, 

and the fact that DOD funded DAWDF at the mandated amount of $500 million for fiscal 

year 2017.
Page 15 GAO-17-332 Defense Acquisition Workforce

Figure 4: Defense Acquisition Workforce Development Fund (DAWDF) Obligations 

and Beginning of Year Carryover Balance, Fiscal Years 2011 through 2018

Notes: Fiscal year 2017 and 2018 obligation data are estimates based on Department of Defense 

components’ potential DAWDF funding requirements. The estimated fiscal year 2018 beginning of 

year carryover balance is based on fiscal year 2017 spending plans and legislated DAWDF funding 

levels.

With the transfer authority enacted by Congress in the DOD 

Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2016, and section 1705 of title 10, DOD 

is authorized, for example, to transfer operation and maintenance funds 

appropriated in fiscal year 2016, which expired on September 30, 2016, 

into DAWDF in fiscal years 2017, 2018, and 2019.17 If this transfer 

authority is not renewed to enable DOD to transfer expired funds beyond 

2019, DOD stated that it will be required to revert back to the credit 

funding process that it had previously used. As of January 2017, there 

 17Pub. L. No. 114-113, div. C, tit. VIII, § 8095.
Page 16 GAO-17-332 Defense Acquisition Workforce

have been no changes to the guidance or any agreement between HCI 

and the Comptroller to address the issues we raised in our 2012 report 

about how to resolve the credit funding delays. During our current review, 

a Comptroller official reiterated that credit funding came at the expense of 

programs and activities that had been included in the President’s budget 

submission. We are not making new recommendations to address the 

funding process and continue to believe that DOD needs to implement 

the recommendation we made in 2012. Those actions, and the ability to 

transfer expired funds through fiscal year 2019, will provide DOD the time 

it needs to assess options, if necessary, to improve the credit funding 

processes.

DOD has taken several actions to improve management and oversight 

processes for DAWDF over the past year, including issuing an updated 

acquisition workforce strategic plan and DAWDF operating guidance. 

DOD’s August 2016 DAWDF guidance required components to submit

annual and 5-year spending plans and formalized the requirement to hold 

a midyear review to assess DAWDF execution and discuss best 

practices. However, additional opportunities exist to better align DOD’s 

strategic plan and DAWDF spending plans, improve consistency in how 

components are using the fund to pay for personnel to help manage the 

fund, and improve the quality of data on how the fund is being used. 

Specifically, DOD’s October 2016 strategic plan indicates that the 

department intends to shift its emphasis from rebuilding the workforce to 

improving its capabilities. DOD’s plan established four goals and related 

strategic priorities that it intends to use DAWDF to help support. The 

October 2016 strategic plan, however, does not identify time frames, 

metrics, or projected budgetary requirements associated with these goals 

and strategic priorities or clearly prioritize DAWDF funding toward 

achieving them.

DOD components identified more than $3 billion in potential DAWDF 

funding requirements for fiscal years 2018 through 2022, which is 

expected to exceed available funding by $500 million over this period. 

Component policies and practices differ on the use of the fund to pay the 

salaries of staff members who help manage DAWDF and execute 

DAWDF initiatives. Further, component data we reviewed that were 

provided to HCI for inclusion in DOD’s DAWDF annual report to Congress 

and monthly oversight of the fund did not always accurately reflect the 

results of DAWDF-funded initiatives, which DOD officials attributed to 

resource constraints and the absence of processes to verify the data 

collected.

DOD Has Taken 

Some Steps to 

Improve Management 

and Oversight of the 

Fund, but 

Opportunities Exist to 

Improve Guidance 

and Data Quality
Page 17 GAO-17-332 Defense Acquisition Workforce

In his June 2016 memorandum, the Under Secretary of Defense for 

Acquisition, Technology and Logistics stated that DOD intends to sustain 

the acquisition workforce size and continue to improve its 

professionalism. Similarly, DOD’s October 2016 acquisition workforce 

strategic plan for fiscal years 2016 through 2021 stated that DOD must 

sustain the acquisition workforce size, factoring in workload demand and 

requirements; ensure that its personnel continue to increase their 

professionalism; and continue to expand talent management programs to 

include recruitment, hiring, training, development, recognition, and 

retention incentives by using DAWDF and other appropriate tools. To 

accomplish this, the strategic plan identified four broad goals—making 

DOD an employer of choice; shaping the acquisition workforce; improving 

the quality and professionalism of the acquisition workforce; and 

improving workforce policies, programs, and processes—and related 

strategic priorities (see table 4).

Table 4: Goals and Examples of Defense Acquisition Workforce Development Fund (DAWDF)–Related Strategic Priorities in 

the Department of Defense Acquisition Workforce Strategic Plan for Fiscal Years 2016-2021

Goal Strategic priorities

Make DOD an employer of choice. Leverage workforce analytics and DAWDF to improve use of incentives.

Establish metrics to assess the return on investment for developmental programs.

Target incentives to mitigate workforce risk to acceptable levels and identify high-priority gaps.

Shape the acquisition workforce 

to achieve current and future 

acquisition requirements.

Leverage DAWDF to offer retention incentives when required to transfer knowledge and 

experience.

Assess workforce requirements and identify capability gaps based upon mission requirements.

Improve the quality and 

professionalism of 

the acquisition workforce.

Increase the number of acquisition workforce members with degrees.

Enhance opportunities for attaining educational goals through tuition reimbursement programs 

and other incentives.

Attain a fully certified workforce and provide the acquisition workforce with the world-class 

training that DOD needs to meet the demands of an increasingly complex environment.

Continuously improve workforce 

polices, programs, and processes.

Establish consistent management and utilization of DAWDF funding across the department 

over the next 5 years, including the following steps:

• Establish a DAWDF operating guide, including standardized policy and proceduresa

• Streamline DAWDF line items for improved accountability.

• Ensure that DAWDF funding is leveraged to resource changing acquisition workforce 

requirements.

• Target DAWDF funding to manage risk in the recruiting, training, and retention of 

acquisition workforce personnel.

Source: GAO presentation of information from the Department of Defense Acquisition Workforce Strategic Plan for Fiscal Years 2016-2021, October 2016. | GAO-17-332

a

Human Capital Initiatives issued a DAWDF operating guide in August 2016.

DOD Issued a New 

Strategic Plan That 

Focuses on Developing 

the Current Workforce but 

Lacks Time Frames and 

Metrics
Page 18 GAO-17-332 Defense Acquisition Workforce

In 2012, we recommended that DOD clearly align DAWDF’s funding 

strategy with the department’s strategic human capital plan for the 

acquisition workforce.18 DOD concurred and stated that the department 

would continue to improve alignment of a revised funding strategy so that 

it supports successful execution of the workforce initiatives. However, 

while DOD’s October 2016 strategic plan provides an overall framework 

for the acquisition workforce and broadly indicates how DAWDF will be 

used to support these efforts, it does not identify time frames, metrics, or 

projected budgetary requirements associated with these goals or strategic 

priorities. As a part of our work on leading practices in strategic workforce 

planning, we have shown that determining the critical skills and 

competencies that agencies’ workforces need to achieve current and 

future agency goals and missions and identify gaps, including those that 

training and development strategies can help address, and developing 

customized strategies to recruit for highly specialized and hard-to-fill 

positions would be beneficial to strategic workforce planning.19 Because 

the new strategic plan does not provide a clear link between its goals for 

the acquisition workforce and how DAWDF funds should be used, it is 

unclear how the department is ensuring that DAWDF targets its most 

critical workforce needs.20 HCI and Director, Acquisition Career 

Management (DACM) officials noted that each military department has 

prepared or is preparing a workforce plan to help guide its efforts.

Further, in our December 2015 report, we recommended that DOD issue 

an updated workforce plan that included revised career field goals and 

that HCI issue guidance to the components to focus hiring on priority 

career fields.21 DOD agreed that additional guidance was essential to 

ensure that DOD had the right people with the right skills to meet future

needs, but noted that determining which career fields were a priority was 

most appropriately determined by the components. DOD stated that it 

would work with the components to issue guidance that would best meet 

both enterprise and specific component workforce needs. In that regard, 

the October 2016 strategic plan reiterated the need to shape the 

 18GAO-12-747R.

19GAO, Human Capital: Key Principles for Effective Strategic Workforce Planning, 

GAO-04-39 (Washington, D.C.: Dec. 11, 2003).

20The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017 repealed the statutory 

requirement for DOD to submit a strategic workforce plan. Pub. L. No. 114-328, § 1102. 

21GAO-16-80.
Page 19 GAO-17-332 Defense Acquisition Workforce

acquisition workforce to achieve current and future acquisition 

requirements but did not establish specific targets for the acquisition 

workforce as a whole or targets for specific career fields. HCI officials 

noted that DOD’s objective is to sustain the current level of the acquisition 

workforce and understand the workload demand.

As part of its DAWDF planning process for fiscal year 2017, HCI 

requested data from the DACMs of each military department on their 

estimates for future DAWDF hiring through fiscal year 2022. Detailed 

breakouts by career field were not required. At the component level, we 

found a range of direction and data on future hiring efforts. For example:

• The Army’s fiscal year 2017 memorandum accompanying its call for 

DAWDF funding requests stated that commands should target hiring 

requests in the following areas: financial management, cost 

estimating, contracting, engineering, science and technology, and 

program management. The Army DACM office provided HCI an 

estimate of planned hires by career field for fiscal year 2017, which 

indicated that about 80 percent of the Army’s fiscal year 2017 DAWDF 

hires were planned for the contracting and engineering career fields.

• The Navy’s fiscal year 2017 guidance accompanying its call for 

DAWDF funding requests does not specify which acquisition career 

fields to target for hiring requests, but Navy DACM officials stated that 

they do obtain input from the commands regarding their acquisition 

workforce hiring needs. The Navy indicated that it plans to hire 255 

entry-level personnel and an additional 100 in the next 5 years to 

address attrition in contracting and to hire engineers in new areas 

such as cybersecurity.

• The Air Force’s March 2016 DAWDF guidance highlighted that 

DAWDF funds would be used to support the program management, 

contracting, and test and evaluation career fields, among others, but it 

does not specify critical career fields where DAWDF hiring should be 

focused. Air Force officials stated that their fiscal year 2017 DAWDF 

program guidance did not request hiring initiatives, but the Air Force 

made a separate call for hiring requirements as a part of an 

overarching Air Force program for force renewal, which would be 

augmented by DAWDF for acquisition hiring. This separate call did 

not specify the number of hires by career field.

DOD’s October 2016 acquisition workforce strategic plan noted that one 

of DOD’s goals was to shape the acquisition workforce to achieve current 

and future acquisition requirements. The absence of revised career field 

goals, coupled with the variation in the details provided by DOD 
Page 20 GAO-17-332 Defense Acquisition Workforce

components, underscores the importance of further management 

attention and guidance in this area, consistent with our December 2015 

recommendation.

DOD has taken a number of recent actions to mature its management 

and oversight of the fund, including issuing DAWDF operating guidance in 

August 2016 and initiating efforts to enhance long-range planning and 

improve component reporting requirements. HCI officials stated that until 

recently, HCI did not require DOD components to estimate requirements 

across the time period covered by the Future Years Defense Program, in 

part because DOD officials were uncertain whether DAWDF would be 

permanent.22 As such, HCI required components to focus their efforts on 

identifying initiatives that could be funded in the upcoming fiscal year. 

Further, HCI and DACM officials noted that because DAWDF was 

intended to supplement other sources of funding that may already be 

available, components often used the flexibility provided by DAWDF to 

address more short-term gaps and emerging needs for training and 

retention initiatives, which may not lend themselves to long-term strategic 

planning.23 For example, in fiscal year 2015, the Defense Acquisition 

University, the Navy, and the Army each provided cybersecurity-related 

training using DAWDF, including master’s level college courses in 

cybersecurity and a Naval Postgraduate School cybersecurity certificate 

program.

In its August 2016 guidance, however, HCI directed each DACM to 

compile, among other things, annual and 5-year hiring and spending

plans. According to this guidance, DOD components are to identify 

opportunities for using DAWDF and provide funding requests to their 

DACMs for review and approval. In turn, the guidance requires each 

DACM to ensure that DAWDF proposals are integrated and coordinated 

within each component. The timing of this process varies by component, 

but the acquisition commands we met with start this effort between

 22The Future Years Defense Program is a 5-year funding plan that provides DOD and 

Congress a tool for looking at future funding needs beyond immediate budget priorities. 

The plan represents estimated appropriation needs for the budget year for which funds 

are being requested from Congress and at least the 4 years following it. 10 U.S.C. § 221. 

23HCI estimated that in fiscal year 2016 the amount of approved “out of cycle requests,” or 

funding for emerging needs, that was not approved as a part of the annual process to 

request DAWDF funds, was approximately $14.5 million, or about 3 percent of the 

approved fiscal year 2016 DAWDF initiatives.

DOD Issued New 

Guidance to Improve 

DAWDF Management and 

Oversight, but 

Components Differed in 

Use of Fund for 

Management Support
Page 21 GAO-17-332 Defense Acquisition Workforce

February and April. HCI typically requests that the components submit 

upcoming fiscal year requests for review in July and meets with 

components in August so that plans can be approved by the end of the 

fiscal year in September. HCI and DACM officials stated that they are 

working to improve the planning process and to develop better estimates 

of DAWDF needs.

Overall, HCI approved $579 million in fiscal year 2017 DAWDF initiatives, 

an increase of 20 percent over the $482 million approved for DOD’s fiscal 

year 2016 initiatives. According to military department DACM officials, the 

increase includes plans to hire additional personnel in contracting, 

information technology, and test and evaluation. To execute its fiscal year 

2017 initiatives, DOD expects to use both carryover funds and expired 

funds that will be available for obligation once they are transferred to 

DAWDF. Further, DOD components identified more than $3 billion in 

potential DAWDF funding requirements from fiscal years 2018 through 

2022. As submitted, the components’ collective annual DAWDF funding 

requirements over this period ranged from $591 million in fiscal year 2018 

to $628 million by fiscal year 2022 (see table 5).24

Table 5: Component Defense Acquisition Workforce Development Fund Budget Estimates, Fiscal Years 2017 through 2022 

Dollars in millions

Fiscal 

year 2017

approved 

Initiatives

Fiscal 

year 2018 

estimate

Fiscal 

year 2019 

estimate 

Fiscal 

year 2020 

estimate 

Fiscal 

year 2021 

estimate 

Fiscal 

year 2022 

estimate Total

Percentage 

change from 

fiscal years 

2017 through 

2022

Air Force 88 105 107 110 113 116 639 +32

Army 96 96 99 97 96 95 579 -1

Navy 121 134 136 137 140 141 809 +17

Other defense 

componentsa 274 256 262 267 272 276 1,607 +1

Total 579 591 604 611 621 628 3,634 +8

Source: GAO presentation of data provided by DOD’s Human Capital Initiatives as of November 2016. | GAO-17-332

a

In addition to the other defense components, the fiscal year 2017 spending plan includes funds for 

miscellaneous offices, programs, and other purposes.

 24The estimates were reported to HCI as a part of the fiscal year 2017 request for DAWDF 

funds by each component. 
Page 22 GAO-17-332 Defense Acquisition Workforce

Of the more than $3 billion in estimated funding requirements for fiscal 

years 2018 through 2022, DOD components reported that they planned to 

request about $1.2 billion—or about 41 percent—to hire more than 6,000 

new acquisition personnel. Components also reported they plan to 

request about $1.4 billion—or about 46 percent—for training for the 

acquisition workforce, developing new talent, and targeting competency 

gaps, while another $258 million—or 8 percent—would be requested for 

retention and recognition.25 As reflected in Table 5, above, the 

components’ collective estimated annual DAWDF funding requirements 

exceed $500 million in each of fiscal years 2018 through 2022. HCI and 

the components will need to prioritize funding requests since estimated 

funding requirements may exceed available DAWDF funding over this 

period.

26

HCI, DACM, and acquisition command officials noted that providing 

management and oversight is complicated by differing views over 

whether DAWDF funds can be used to pay for management personnel. 

For example, officials at the Naval Sea Systems Command—which has 

more than 18,000 acquisition workforce personnel—told us it has one fulltime DOD civilian who is responsible for managing DAWDF and 

overseeing its initiatives. Command officials told us that they use their 

operation and maintenance budget to pay this DAWDF fund manager. 

We identified differences of opinion by HCI, DACM, and acquisition 

command officials on whether their offices could use DAWDF to help pay 

for personnel to manage the fund and under what circumstances. For 

example:

• HCI officials said that their office does not use DAWDF funding to pay 

for personnel to manage DAWDF. HCI’s August 2016 guidance 

indicates that DAWDF can be used to hire interns, entry-level 

personnel, journeymen, experts, and highly qualified experts assigned 

to an acquisition career field. The guidance prohibits using DAWDF to 

pay the base salary of any person who was a DOD acquisition 

 25The other 5 percent of DAWDF funding planned for fiscal years 2018 through 2022 was 

not specifically designated for hiring, training, or recruiting and retention. 

26According to DOD, $500 million is the most that can be put into DAWDF for a fiscal year 

under the law, including both credits and transfers. DAWDF may also have carryover 

funds available. The conference report accompanying the National Defense Authorization 

Act for Fiscal Year 2017 noted that the conferees believe that per section 1705 of title 10, 

U.S. Code, the amounts transferred into DAWDF from unobligated balances do not have a 

maximum limit each year.
Page 23 GAO-17-332 Defense Acquisition Workforce

workforce member as of January 28, 2008, and who has continued in 

the employment of the department since such time without a break in 

such employment of more than 1 year.

• The Air Force DACM approved the use of DAWDF to pay the salaries 

of at least 12 civilian acquisition and nonacquisition workforce 

personnel to manage DAWDF initiatives in hiring and training, as well 

as to manage DAWDF itself. These personnel were located within the 

Air Force Personnel Center, the Air Force Institute of Technology, and 

the Air Force Materiel Command. The Air Force’s March 2016 

guidance specifically permits using DAWDF to pay for personnel to 

support and execute DAWDF initiatives. The guidance does not 

specify whether those personnel must be acquisition workforce 

members.

• Naval Sea Systems Command officials told us that they believed that 

DAWDF could not be used to hire any personnel to help manage 

DAWDF. However, the Navy DACM told us that the Navy as a whole 

had approximately 16 full-time equivalents supporting the 

management and execution of DAWDF. Five of these 16 positions 

were funded by DAWDF and were not acquisition coded.

• The Army Contracting Command received approval from the Army 

DACM to use DAWDF to pay for a DAWDF fund manager, which the 

Army identified as an acquisition-coded position. Army DACM officials 

told us that they do not believe that DAWDF funds can be used to pay 

for DAWDF personnel to manage the fund unless they are in 

acquisition-coded positions. The Army’s October 2016 guidance 

specifies that DAWDF may be used for new hires placed in 

acquisition-coded positions.

• Defense Logistics Agency officials told us that they believed they were 

not allowed to use DAWDF to pay the salaries of any personnel 

responsible for managing DAWDF. As a result, the Defense Logistics 

Agency uses its regular budget to pay the salary of the person 

responsible for overseeing its DAWDF initiatives.

Federal internal control standards indicate that sufficient management 

personnel are needed to oversee federal programs and that agencies 

need clear and consistent policies and procedures to support 

accomplishment of agency objectives consistently.27 HCI’s August 2016 

guidance, however, did not clearly indicate whether DOD components 

 27GAO, Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government, GAO-14-704G 

(Washington, D.C.: September 2014). 
Page 24 GAO-17-332 Defense Acquisition Workforce

could use DAWDF to pay the salaries of personnel to manage DAWDF 

and under what conditions, while the guidance at the military departments 

is not consistent on the issue. Without additional clarification on whether 

DAWDF funds may be used to pay for personnel to manage DAWDF, and 

under what conditions, DOD components will continue to be at risk of not 

using DAWDF funding consistently, or, if DAWDF can be used to help 

manage and oversee the fund, potentially missing opportunities to 

enhance management and oversight.

DOD’s August 2016 guidance identifies several new and maturing 

processes HCI will use to improve DOD’s management and oversight of 

DAWDF. For example, in addition to the requirement for the DOD 

components to submit annual and 5-year spending plans, DOD’s August 

2016 guidance formalized the requirement to hold a midyear review to 

assess DAWDF execution and discuss best practices, among other 

issues, as a part of HCI’s management and oversight of the fund. HCI 

conducted midyear reviews in 2015 and 2016 and believes they were 

beneficial. Building on the midyear review, the August 2016 guidance also 

includes a new requirement for all DAWDF users to submit annual year in 

review reports beginning in 2016. Required data include a summary of 

the implementation of DAWDF initiatives in a standardized format, 

including details on hiring—by career field—and training, recruiting, and 

retention initiatives. According to HCI officials, these data will be used to 

compile the DAWDF annual report to Congress and provide more 

detailed and consistent information on the execution of the fund. HCI 

officials also hold monthly teleconferences with components to discuss 

funding requests and execution.

Nevertheless, HCI and component officials we spoke with acknowledged 

shortcomings in how they collected and reported data on DAWDF-funded 

initiatives, citing resource constraints and the absence of processes to 

verify the data collected. We found as a part of our review of fiscal year 

2015 DAWDF initiatives that officials managing DAWDF did not have 

complete and accurate data on DAWDF-funded initiatives to meet 

reporting requirements and oversee the fund. To help meet congressional 

reporting requirements and assess fund execution, HCI requested that 

DOD components submit highlights of their DAWDF accomplishments for 

the year for inclusion in DOD’s annual report to Congress.28 However, we 

 28Subsection 1705(f) of title 10, U.S. Code, requires DOD to submit an annual report to 

the congressional defense committees on the operation of DAWDF. 

HCI Has Implemented 

Some Additional Measures 

to Improve Oversight of 

DAWDF, but DAWDF 

Managers Do Not Have 

Accurate Data on the 

Execution of DAWDF 

Initiatives
Page 25 GAO-17-332 Defense Acquisition Workforce

found that the components did not collect complete and accurate 

information on their efforts, which at times were reflected in DOD’s report 

to Congress. For example, DOD’s fiscal year 2015 report to Congress 

highlighted that DAWDF funded a total of 287 student loan repayments, 

but the Army alone provided us documentation that it awarded student 

loan repayments to 762 recipients that year using DAWDF.

Further, HCI requires DOD components to submit a monthly report to 

track program execution status. This report is intended to capture the 

monthly spending plan and execution against that plan, hiring data, and 

accomplishments associated with training and other incentives. However, 

DOD components did not always submit monthly reports. For example, of 

the 20 components that obligated DAWDF funds in fiscal year 2015, only 

7 components provided HCI monthly reports in September 2015. HCI 

stated that this was because key DAWDF personnel transitioned to 

different jobs during the September and October 2015 time frame.

We also found that some information provided by the components to HCI 

as a part of their monthly reporting requirements was either incomplete or 

inaccurate. For example:

• The Army did not report any tuition assistance recipients to HCI at the 

end of fiscal year 2015, but the Army Materiel Command provided 

documentation showing that it provided DAWDF-funded tuition 

assistance to 233 acquisition workforce personnel. Army officials 

explained that the discrepancy was because the acquisition personnel 

who received DAWDF-funded tuition assistance were reported under 

a different category.

• Similarly, the Air Force DACM reported to HCI that the Air Force used 

DAWDF to help provide student loan repayment benefits to 8 

personnel in fiscal year 2015. The Air Force Materiel Command told 
Page 26 GAO-17-332 Defense Acquisition Workforce

us that there were 32 recipients in the same year, but our analysis 

indicated that the actual number was 40.29

While the actions taken to improve management and oversight 

processes, if fully implemented, can help address the issues we identified 

during our review of fiscal year 2015 initiatives, it is not clear that these 

new processes include specific steps to verify the data that are collected

and reported. Federal internal control standards state that programs need 

accurate data to determine whether they are meeting their agencies’ 

strategic and annual performance plans and meeting their goals for 

accountability for effective and efficient use of resources.30 To meet this 

standard, programs require procedures to verify that required data are 

complete and accurate. Without taking actions to ensure that the data 

reported are complete and accurate, HCI and DOD components increase 

their risk that they will not be able to determine whether they are meeting 

their goals or provide accurate information for DOD’s annual DAWDF 

reports to Congress.

DOD’s use of DAWDF is at a critical juncture, in which it will no longer 

use the fund to grow the workforce but rather to sustain and build on the 

progress made over the past 9 years. Recent congressional actions have 

provided more stability in the level of funding to be credited to DAWDF, 

authorized the transfer of expired funds to DAWDF through fiscal year 

2019, and addressed the carryover of unobligated DAWDF funds. Taken 

as a whole, these actions should facilitate DOD’s efforts to manage 

DAWDF but also require that DOD take greater initiative to maximize the 

opportunities these changes provide. DOD’s October 2016 strategic plan 

provides an overall framework for the acquisition workforce and broadly 

 29Given these reporting deficiencies, we conducted additional work to determine whether 

recipients of DAWDF-funded student loan repayment and tuition assistance initiatives 

were acquisition workforce personnel in the years that they received the benefit. We 

tested a nongeneralizable sample of 276 DAWDF recipients from the military departments 

against DOD’s acquisition personnel database and determined that each of the 165 

DAWDF-funded student loan repayment beneficiaries were identified as acquisition 

workforce personnel. Further, we found that all 89 DAWDF-funded Army and Air Force 

tuition assistance recipients in our sample were identified as acquisition workforce 

personnel. In the case of the Navy, 13 of 22 personnel who received tuition assistance

were identified as acquisition workforce personnel prior to receiving benefits. In the 

remaining nine cases, the Navy DACM noted that these individuals were engineering duty 

officers and DON unwritten policy made them eligible to receive benefits funded by 

DAWDF. The Navy subsequently developed a written policy.

30GAO-14-704G. 

Conclusions
Page 27 GAO-17-332 Defense Acquisition Workforce

indicates how DAWDF will be used to support these efforts, but it does 

not identify time frames, metrics, or projected budgetary requirements 

associated with these goals or strategic priorities. Further, the 

components’ future DAWDF funding requirements average more than 

$600 million a year through fiscal year 2022—or $100 million more per 

year than DOD officials told us that they can put into DAWDF for a fiscal 

year. Clearly aligning DAWDF funding with DOD’s strategic plan—as we 

recommended in 2012—may help DOD determine how to prioritize 

component spending plans.

At the tactical level, our work found that DOD components’ guidance, 

practices, and views on whether they could use DAWDF to pay for 

personnel to help manage the fund varied. Our work also found that 

components collected and reported data to HCI on DAWDF-funded 

initiatives that had not been verified, attributable in their view to resource 

constraints and the absence of processes to ensure the accuracy and 

completeness of the data. Addressing these issues in a timely fashion is 

necessary for sound management of the fund and is consistent with 

federal internal control standards.

We recommend that the Director of Human Capital Initiatives take the 

following two actions:

• Clarify whether and under what conditions DAWDF funds could be 

used to pay for personnel to help manage the fund.

• In collaboration with cognizant officials within DOD components, 

ensure that components have processes in place to verify the 

accuracy and completeness of data on the execution of initiatives 

funded by DAWDF.

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

reproduced in appendix II, DOD partially concurred with both of the 

recommendations, and indicated actions that will be or have been taken 

to address them. DOD also provided technical comments, which we 

incorporated as appropriate. 

In response to our recommendation that DOD clarify whether DAWDF 

funds could be used to pay for personnel to help manage the fund, DOD 

stated that the next release of the DAWDF Desk Operating Guide would 

provide the recommended clarity. 

Recommendations for 

Executive Action

Agency Comments

and Our Evaluation
Page 28 GAO-17-332 Defense Acquisition Workforce

In response to our recommendation that DOD ensure that processes are 

in place to verify the accuracy and completeness of data on the execution 

of DAWDF initiatives, DOD noted that it had made significant 

management and other changes to improve the accuracy and 

completeness of data used and provided by components on the execution 

of initiatives funded by DAWDF. DOD noted that it had, among other 

actions, assigned a full-time DAWDF program manager; issued guidance 

to improve data validity, consistency, and alignment; and instituted a 

midyear execution review and established a requirement for a data-driven 

year in review. Several of these changes were made or were in process 

in 2016, which we identified in our draft report. If these management and 

policy changes are effectively translated into practice, we believe these 

actions will address the intent of the recommendation.

We are sending copies of this report to the appropriate congressional 

committees; the Secretary of Defense; the Secretaries of the Army, the 

Air Force, and the Navy; the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, 

Technology and Logistics; the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller) 

and Financial Management; and the Director of Human Capital Initiatives. 

In addition, the report is also available at no charge on the GAO website 

at http://www.gao.gov.

If 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 who made key contributions to this 

report are listed in appendix III.

Sincerely yours,

Timothy J. DiNapoli

Director, Acquisition and Sourcing Management
Appendix I: Objectives, Scope, and 

Methodology

Page 29 GAO-17-332 Defense Acquisition Workforce

This report examines (1) the process the Department of Defense (DOD) 

uses to fund the Defense Acquisition Workforce Development Fund 

(DAWDF) and (2) DOD’s management and oversight of DAWDF 

initiatives.

To conduct our work, we selected the acquisition command within each 

military department that had the largest number of acquisition workforce 

personnel in fiscal year 2015:

• Department of the Army, Army Materiel Command;

• Department of the Navy, Naval Sea Systems Command; and

• Department of the Air Force, Air Force Materiel Command.

We also selected the Defense Logistics Agency, which had the second 

largest number of acquisition personnel of the other defense agencies 

that obligated DAWDF funds in fiscal year 2015. Collectively, the three 

military departments and the Defense Logistics Agency comprised 88 

percent of DOD’s acquisition workforce and received the majority of 

DAWDF funds in fiscal year 2015.

To examine the process DOD uses to fund DAWDF, we reviewed 

relevant legislation as well as DOD-wide and component guidance on the 

use of DAWDF funding. We analyzed the amount of carryover and 

estimated carryover funds from fiscal years 2008 through 2018. We 

reviewed key documents, including DOD funding authorization 

documents and DOD’s annual reports to Congress on DAWDF from fiscal 

years 2008 through 2015. We assessed the timeliness of DOD’s funding 

process by comparing data on key points in the funding process, 

including when the DOD Comptroller deposited funds into the DAWDF 

account, and analyzed documentation showing when the funds were 

allotted and obligated from fiscal years 2008 through 2016.

To evaluate DOD’s DAWDF management and oversight processes, we 

took several steps. We reviewed relevant legislation, DOD’s 2010 

DAWDF guidance for components and its August 2016 DAWDF Desk 

Operating Guide, which includes information on the annual planning, 

proposal, review, approval, and funding processes; we also reviewed 

guidance issued by each of the military departments. We also assessed 

the Department of Defense Acquisition Workforce Strategic Plan, FY

2016 – FY 2021, which was completed in October 2016. We analyzed 

DAWDF future spending estimates from fiscal year 2017 through fiscal 

year 2022 submitted to the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for 

Appendix I: Objectives, Scope, and 

Methodology
Appendix I: Objectives, Scope, and 

Methodology

Page 30 GAO-17-332 Defense Acquisition Workforce

Acquisition, Technology and Logistics - Human Capital Initiatives (HCI) by 

each of the military departments and other defense agencies.1 In addition, 

we analyzed monthly DAWDF spending reports from fiscal year 2015, 

DAWDF midyear review documentation from fiscal years 2015 and 2016, 

and briefing materials from DAWDF governance meetings from fiscal 

years 2015 and 2016. We also interviewed officials from HCI, the offices 

of the Directors for Acquisition Career Management from each military 

department, and acquisition command officials about DOD’s long-term 

strategic planning efforts related to DAWDF. Further, we used Standards 

for Internal Control in the Federal Government to identify criteria 

regarding the types of control activities that should be in place to verify 

data.

2 These criteria include top-level reviews of actual performance, 

reviews by management at the functional or activity level, establishment 

and review of performance measures and indicators, proper execution of 

transactions, and other steps to ensure the completeness, accuracy, and 

validity of reported data.

To evaluate DOD’s DAWDF program execution and adherence to 

reporting requirements, we compared DAWDF data submitted by DOD 

components at the end of fiscal year 2015 with data obtained from 

officials responsible for executing DAWDF initiatives, HCI’s monthly 

reporting requirements for DAWDF, and data reported in DOD’s DAWDF 

fiscal year 2015 annual report to Congress. In addition, we spoke with 

HCI and component officials about the quality of the data. We describe 

instances of incomplete and inaccurate data where appropriate in our 

report.

To obtain an understanding of how the planning, review, and 

implementation processes for DAWDF initiatives worked, we selected a 

nongeneralizable sample of 10 fiscal year 2015 DAWDF initiatives. Our 

sample included 3 initiatives from each department—1 from each of the 

three major initiative categories—that were among initiatives with the 

highest dollar values. In addition, we selected 1 initiative from the 

Defense Logistics Agency. (See table 6.)

 1

HCI is responsible for the management of DAWDF.

2

GAO, Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government, GAO-14-704G 

(Washington, D.C.: September 2014).
Appendix I: Objectives, Scope, and 

Methodology

Page 31 GAO-17-332 Defense Acquisition Workforce

Table 6: Initiatives Supported by the Defense Acquisition Workforce Development Fund in Fiscal Year 2015 That GAO 

Reviewed

Department of Defense 

(DOD) component Category Initiative

Army Training and Career Development Predictive Staffing Model

Army Retention and Recognition Student Loan Repayment Program 

Army Recruiting and Hiring Hiring Journeymen

Navy Training and Career Development Engineering and Technical Authority Training 

Navy Retention and Recognition Permanent Change of Station Incentives 

Navy Recruiting and Hiring Student Loan Repayment Program 

Air Force Training and Career Development Major Command Acquisition Training

Air Force Retention and Recognition Pathways Interns

Air Force Recruiting and Hiring Recruiting Incentives, including Student Loan Repayment 

Program 

Defense Logistics Agency Retention and Recognition Tuition Assistance 

Source: GAO summary of selected data from DOD components. I GA0-17-332

For these initiatives, we collected and reviewed relevant documentation 

and data and interviewed cognizant component officials.

To verify whether military department recipients of DAWDF-funded tuition 

assistance and student loan repayment were members of the defense 

acquisition workforce in the year that they received the benefit, we 

selected a nongeneralizable sample of 276 recipients across the military 

departments for fiscal year 2015 from the lists of recipients provided by 

the military departments. Because the programs are managed separately 

by each military department, we selected student loan repayment 

program recipients and tuition assistance recipients from each of the 

military departments (see table 7). Because we used a nongeneralizable 

sample, our findings cannot be used to make inferences about all 

DAWDF recipients.
Appendix I: Objectives, Scope, and 

Methodology

Page 32 GAO-17-332 Defense Acquisition Workforce

Table 7: Number of Recipients of Student Loan Repayments and Tuition Assistance That GAO Reviewed

Department of Defense (DOD) component Number of recipients

Student loan 

repayment program Tuition assistance 

Army 44 44

Navy 81 22

Air Force 40 45

Total 165 111

Source: GAO summary of sample data from DOD components. I GA0-17-332

To determine whether these recipients were members of the acquisition 

workforce, we verified that the recipients were in DataMart, DOD’s 

acquisition workforce database, the year that they received the benefit. 

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. For example, in those 

instances where we could not verify a name in DataMart, we contacted 

military department officials to obtain additional information that allowed 

us to confirm that those recipients were a part of the acquisition 

workforce. We also interviewed agency officials knowledgeable about the 

data. We determined that the data were sufficiently reliable for the 

purposes of this report.

To address both objectives, we interviewed representatives from the 

following DOD organizations during our review:

Office of the Secretary of Defense

• Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology 

and Logistics - HCI

• Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller) and Chief 

Financial Officer

• Defense Finance and Accounting Service

• Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (J-4)
Appendix I: Objectives, Scope, and 

Methodology

Page 33 GAO-17-332 Defense Acquisition Workforce

Army

• Director, Acquisition Career Management

• Army Acquisition Support Center

• Army Materiel Command

• Research, Development and Engineering Command

Navy

• Director, Acquisition Career Management

• Naval Sea Systems Command

Air Force

• Director, Acquisition Career Management

• Air Force Materiel Command

Other Defense Agencies

• 4th Estate Director, Acquisition Career Management

• Defense Logistics Agency

We conducted this performance audit from March 2016 to March 2017 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.
Appendix II: Comments from the Department 

of Defense

Page 34 GAO-17-332 Defense Acquisition Workforce

Appendix II: Comments from the Department 

of Defense
Appendix II: Comments from the Department 

of Defense

Page 35 GAO-17-332 Defense Acquisition Workforce
Appendix III: GAO Contact and Staff 

Acknowledgments

Page 36 GAO-17-332 Defense Acquisition Workforce

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

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

Director), James D. Ashley, Emily Bond, Lorraine Ettaro, Meafelia P. 

Gusukuma, Kristine Hassinger, Katheryn Hubbell, Heather B. Miller, 

Roger R. Stoltz, Roxanna Sun, Alyssa Weir, Nell Williams, and Lauren 

Wright made key contributions to this report.

Appendix III: GAO Contact and Staff 

Acknowledgments

GAO Contact

Staff 

Acknowledgments

(100644)
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