United States General Accounting Office

GAO Report to Congressional Committees

April 1996 ACQUISITION

MANAGEMENT

Fiscal Year 1995

Waivers of Acquisition

Workforce

Requirements

G O A

years

1921 - 1996

GAO/NSIAD-96-102

GAO United States

General Accounting Office

Washington, D.C. 20548

National Security and

International Affairs Division

B-271073 

April 15, 1996

The Honorable Strom Thurmond

Chairman

The Honorable Sam Nunn

Ranking Minority Member

Committee on Armed Services

United States Senate

The Honorable Floyd Spence

Chairman

The Honorable Ronald Dellums

Ranking Minority Member

Committee on National Security

House of Representatives

The Defense Acquisition Workforce Improvement Act (10 U.S.C. 1701 et

seq.) was enacted on November 5, 1990. The act was intended to

professionalize the acquisition workforce of the Department of Defense

(DOD) by establishing specific requirements for education, training, and

experience that were to take effect over a 3-year period, beginning

October 1991. The act permits DOD officials to waive specific qualification

requirements if (1) unusual circumstances justify a waiver or (2) an

individual’s qualifications obviate the need for meeting the requirements.

Also, it required that, through 1998, our office annually report on DOD’s

compliance with the act’s waiver provisions.1

 This is our fifth report on

waivers; one additional report covers DOD’s overall implementation of the

act (see list of GAO related reports at the end of this report).

In conjunction with the waivers, we obtained information on DOD’s use of

fulfillments as authorized by an amendment to the act. Fulfillments enable

individuals to receive credit when they have the required competencies

instead of taking training courses.

Background The quality and professionalism of DOD’s acquisition workforce have been

issues for over 30 years. In 1986, the President’s Blue Ribbon Commission

on Defense Management (the Packard Commission) described the DOD

acquisition workforce as “undertrained, underpaid, and inexperienced.” In

July 1989, DOD’s Defense Management Review reported many of the same

1

P.L. 104-66, Dec. 21, 1995, repealed this reporting requirement for fiscal years 1996 through 1998.

Therefore, this report on the fiscal year 1995 waivers will be our final report under the act.

Page 1 GAO/NSIAD-96-102 Acquisition Management
B-271073 

problems and recommended a series of specific management initiatives to

improve the acquisition process and more effectively manage DOD

resources.

The Defense Acquisition Workforce Improvement Act requires the

Secretary of Defense to (1) establish specific education, training, tenure,

and experience requirements for its acquisition workforce, which is

comprised of 11 career areas; (2) provide training and education to meet

these requirements; (3) establish a management structure along with

policies and regulations for implementing the act’s provisions; and

(4) enhance civilian opportunities to progress to senior acquisition

positions. (See app. I for specific requirements of the act and app. II for

the listing of acquisition-related career areas.)

Fiscal year 1994 was the first year all the act’s provisions were in effect.

DOD reported that 114,380 personnel, 86 percent of whom were civilians,

were subject to the requirements of the act at the end of fiscal year 1995.

The act also requires each of the services to establish an acquisition corps

consisting of senior civilian and military personnel who meet specific

education, experience, and training requirements. According to DOD

officials, of the 114,380 personnel covered by the acts’ requirements,

21,626 are the senior acquisition personnel comprising the services’

acquisition corps. Roughly 73 percent of the corps’ personnel are civilian.

Individuals appointed to critical acquisition positions must (1) be

members of the acquisition corps and (2) be assigned to and remain in

these positions for a minimum 3-year tenure.

The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1993 authorized

the use of fulfillment standards as a substitute to the act’s training

requirements. The Secretary of Defense developed fulfillment standards in

January 1993 to include a formal process for determining whether an

individual has demonstrated competence in the areas of the mandatory

training courses. The fulfillment standards are effective retroactively to

November 5, 1990, and cease to be in effect on October 1, 1997.

Results in Brief During fiscal year 1995, the military services and DOD agencies granted 

233 waivers for 231 individuals not meeting the training, education, tenure,

or experience requirements, compared to fiscal year 1994, when 63

waivers were granted. Of the waivers granted, 83 percent (194 of 233) were

for individuals not meeting the tenure requirements (i.e., not serving the

Page 2 GAO/NSIAD-96-102 Acquisition Management
B-271073 

required 3-year term in critical acquisition positions due to retirement,

promotion, reassignment, or downsizing). Fiscal year 1995 was the first

time that tenure waivers outnumbered all other types of waivers.

Of the 39 waivers that were not related to tenure requirements, 

13 (33 percent) were for membership in the acquisition corps. By

comparison, 18 individuals received waivers for corps membership in

fiscal year 1994. Waivers for acquisition experience decreased by

58 percent. Only one waiver was granted for the required Program

Management Course and no fulfillment waivers were granted.

Waivers Approved Table 1 summarizes the waivers approved by each service and other DOD

agencies and lists the reasons for these waivers.

Table 1: Summary of Waivers

Approved for Fiscal Year 1995

Reason for waiver Army Navy Air Force

DOD

agencies Total

Acquisition experience 2 1 3 1 7

Tenure 14 33 140 7 194

Critical acquisition position 0 2 12 0 14

Acquisition corps qualifications 0 8 0 5 13

Contracting position requirements 0 3 0 1 4

Program Management Course 0 1 0 0 1

Total 16 48 155 14 233

For the first time, tenure waivers are the predominant type of waiver.

According to the act, individuals not serving their full 3-year tenure

requirement in a critical acquisition position must be granted a waiver.

Eighty-three percent (194) of all waivers were for individuals not meeting

tenure requirements. The Air Force granted 72 percent (140) of the 

194 tenure waivers. Of the total tenure waivers granted throughout the

entire DOD acquisition workforce,

• 54 percent (105) were for reassignment,

• 13 percent (26) were for retirement,

• 6 percent (12) were for promotion, and

• 26 percent (51) were for other reasons.

Consistent with prior fiscal years, the majority of fiscal year 1995 tenure

waivers were for reassignment. The Air Force granted 59 percent (62) of

the tenure reassignment waivers. The Navy ranked a distant second in

Page 3 GAO/NSIAD-96-102 Acquisition Management
B-271073 

granting 29 tenure reassignment waivers, followed by the Army with 8 and

other DOD agencies with 6 waivers.

The Air Force granted 34 tenure waivers to individuals who left the service

by using the Voluntary Separation Incentive Pay or the Voluntary Early

Retirement Authority. These waivers were granted because of the current

downsizing efforts in the federal government. At the time these individuals

decided to use the early out incentive option, they were occupying critical

acquisition positions. None of the tenure waivers approved by the Army,

the Navy, or DOD agencies cited this reason for the waiver.

The Air Force was also the only service to grant waivers to individuals

who participated in a specific development program, exempting 17 civilian

personnel classified as “top rung” from the 3-year tenure requirement for

individuals who occupied critical acquisition positions. These individuals

are viewed as being top performers and more likely to advance up the

management career ladder.

In fiscal year 1995, waivers for acquisition experience declined from 12

granted in fiscal year 1994 to 7, or by 58 percent. Only one waiver was

granted for the required Program Management Course, while none were

granted for this course in fiscal year 1994. By contrast, DOD granted a total

of 33 such waivers for fiscal years 1992 and 1993. This trend, if maintained,

may indicate that effective implementation and oversight of this provision

of the act have been achieved (i.e., individuals needing the course are

being identified in a timely manner, the Defense Acquisition University has

established a sufficient number of courses, and courses are made available

as scheduled). Waivers granted for not meeting the act’s requirements for

contracting officer positions declined 60 percent from 10 to 4. However,

waivers for individuals not meeting all requirements of the act but serving

in critical acquisition positions or as members of the acquisition corps

increased 50 percent from 18 to 27.

Significant Overall

Increase in Waivers

Approved

The increase in the number of tenure waivers granted from fiscal years

1993 through 1995 is the specific reason the total number of waivers

increased 400 percent since first reported in 1992 (see fig. 1). Tenure

waivers increased 840 percent (from 23 to 194) for that period. However,

because (1) prior to October 1, 1993, the tenure requirement applied only

to program and deputy program managers and (2) increasing turbulence in

the acquisition workforce is occurring due to acquisition reform and

downsizing, it is too soon to ascertain if this increase will be sustained.

Page 4 GAO/NSIAD-96-102 Acquisition Management
B-271073 

Figure 1: Waivers Approved From

Fiscal Years 1992 Through 1995

FY 92 FY 93 FY 94 FY 95

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

48

30

63

233

Although the number of tenure waivers increased significantly, the

numbers of other types of waivers declined. For example, waivers granted

for lack of acquisition experience and the Program Management Course,

predominant in fiscal year 1992, were at seven and one, respectively, in

fiscal year 1995 (see fig. 2).

Page 5 GAO/NSIAD-96-102 Acquisition Management
B-271073 

Figure 2: Reasons for Acquisition

Corps Waivers

Acq Exp No PMC Tenure Acq Corps Contracting

0

50

100

150

200

250

FY 92 FY 93 FY 94 FY 95

Note: Acq Exp—Acquisition experience; No PMC—Needs Program Management Course; Acq

Corps—Acquisition corps qualifications; and Contracting—Contracting position requirements.

DOD officials believe that in today’s acquisition environment, which is

characterized by downsizing and reorganization, tenure waivers are

becoming an ever increasing administrative burden and affect flexibility in

managing the acquisition workforce. During fiscal year 1995, DOD

requested legislative relief from the 3-year tenure requirement because it

believed that tenure requirements should apply to only certain key

acquisition positions (i.e., program managers, deputy program managers,

program executive officers, all flag/general officers, and senior executive

service) rather than to all critical acquisition positions. According to DOD

officials, if the requested legislative relief had already been granted,

Page 6 GAO/NSIAD-96-102 Acquisition Management
B-271073 

roughly 80 percent of fiscal year 1995 tenure waivers would have been

unnecessary and the remaining waivers would have provided more useful

information for decisionmaking regarding the key acquisition positions.

Such legislative relief was not approved.

Fulfillments Fulfillment means that the training requirement has been satisfied through

other means, such as experience. Individuals seeking fulfillment approvals

must submit fulfillment packages to the authorized approval authority.

DOD’s Office of the Director of Acquisition Education, Training, and Career

Development tracks fulfillments for two courses: the Program

Management 301 Course and the Information Resources Management 

302 Course. Unlike fiscal year 1994 when four fulfillment waivers were

granted, no fulfillments were approved for these two courses in fiscal 

year 1995.

Agency Comments In commenting orally on a draft this report, DOD generally agreed with the

information in this report.

Scope and

Methodology

Our review covered the Departments of the Army, the Navy, and the Air

Force; the Office of the Secretary of Defense; and the other DOD agencies.

We obtained documents on the fiscal year 1995 waivers and fulfillments

from the Office of the Director, Acquisition Education, Training, and

Career Development Policy with the Office of the Secretary of Defense.

For those waivers submitted and approved, we assessed the justification

for the waivers using criteria contained in the act; DOD Instruction 5000.52,

Defense Acquisition Education, Training, and Career Development

Program, dated October 25, 1991; and the Under Secretary of Defense’s

October 25, 1991, policy memorandum, which was superseded by DOD

Instruction 5000.58, “Defense Acquisition Workforce,” dated January 14,

1992.

We performed our review between August 1995 and January 1996 in

accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards.

Page 7 GAO/NSIAD-96-102 Acquisition Management
B-271073 

We are sending copies of this report to the Secretaries of Defense, the

Army, the Navy, and the Air Force and to other interested congressional

committees. We will also make copies available to others upon request.

Please contact me at (202) 512-4383 if you or your staff have any questions

concerning this report. Major contributors to this report were Johnetta

Gatlin-Brown, Rae Ann Sapp, Clifton E. Spruill, and Myra Watts.

David E. Cooper

Associate Director,

Defense Acquisition Issues

Page 8 GAO/NSIAD-96-102 Acquisition Management
Page 9 GAO/NSIAD-96-102 Acquisition Management
Contents

Letter 1

Appendix I 

Defense Acquisition

Workforce

Improvement Act

12

Appendix II 

Acquisition Positions

Requiring Designation

by the Act

13

Related GAO Reports 16

Table Table 1: Summary of Waivers Approved for Fiscal Year 1995 3

Figures Figure 1: Waivers Approved from Fiscal Years 1992 through 1995 5

Figure 2: Reasons for Acquisition Corps Waivers 6

Abbreviations

DOD Department of Defense

Page 10 GAO/NSIAD-96-102 Acquisition Management
Page 11 GAO/NSIAD-96-102 Acquisition Management
Appendix I 

Defense Acquisition Workforce

Improvement Act

Starting Specific Requirements

10/1/91 Program managers (newly appointed)

— Program Management Course (or a comparable course),

— 8 years of acquisition experience (2 in a systems program office or

similar organization for major defense acquisition program),

— 6 years of acquisition experience for significant nonmajor programs,

and

— 4 years in the position or complete the first major milestone of the

program and sign a written agreement to remain during the period.

10/1/91 Deputy program managers

— Program Management Course (or a comparable course) and

— 6 years of acquisition experience.

10/1/92 Program executive officers

— Program Management Course (or a comparable course),

— 10 years of acquisition experience (4 years in a critical acquisition

position), and

— previous program manager or deputy program manager.

10/1/92 General and flag officers and civilian equivalents (before being assigned

to a critical acquisition position),

— 10 years of acquisition experience (4 years in a critical acquisition

position) and

— Program Management Course (or a comparable course).

10/1/92 Senior contracting officials (before being assigned to a critical

acquisition position)

— 4 years contracting experience.

10/1/93 Any person assigned to a critical acquisition position shall be assigned

to the position for not fewer than 3 years.

Contracting officers

— all mandatory contracting courses,

— 2 years contracting experience, and

— Baccalaureate degree with 24 semester hours in business disciplines

(or passed an equivalency exam).

10/1/93 All services

— establish an acquisition corps and

— establish a management information system.

Page 12 GAO/NSIAD-96-102 Acquisition Management
Appendix II 

Acquisition Positions Requiring Designation

by the Act

(1) Program management.

(2) Systems planning, research, development, engineering, and testing.

(3) Procurement, including contracting.

(4) Industrial property management.

(5) Logistics.

(6) Quality control and assurance.

(7) Manufacturing and production.

(8) Business, cost estimating, financial management, and auditing.

(9) Education, training, and career developing.

(10) Construction.

(11) Joint development and production with other government agencies and foreign

countries.

Page 13 GAO/NSIAD-96-102 Acquisition Management
Appendix II 

Acquisition Positions Requiring Designation

by the Act

Page 14 GAO/NSIAD-96-102 Acquisition Management
Appendix II 

Acquisition Positions Requiring Designation

by the Act

Page 15 GAO/NSIAD-96-102 Acquisition Management
Related GAO Reports

Defense Management: Implementation of the Defense Acquisition

Workforce Improvement Act (GAO/NSIAD-92-97, Jan 31, 1992).

Acquisition Management: Waivers to Acquisition Workforce Training,

Education, and Experience Requirements (GAO/NSIAD-93-128, Mar. 30, 1993).

Acquisition Management: Implementation of the Defense Acquisition

Workforce Improvement Act (GAO/NSIAD-93-129, Apr. 26, 1993).

DOD Acquisition: Fiscal Year 1993 Waivers to Acquisition Workforce

Requirements (GAO/NSIAD-94-92, Feb. 16, 1994).

Acquisition Management: Waivers to Workforce Training, Education, and

Experience Requirements (GAO/NSIAD-95-88, Feb. 1, 1995).

(705118) Page 16 GAO/NSIAD-96-102 Acquisition Management
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