This report provides background on the Department of Defense (DOD) acquisition workforce. Specifically, the report addresses the following questions: 1. What is the acquisition workforce? 2. What is the current size of the acquisition workforce? 3. How has Congress sought to improve the acquisition workforce in the past? 4. What are some potential questions for Congress to explore in the area of acquisition workforce management to improve acquisitions? Congress and the executive branch have long been frustrated with perceived waste, mismanagement, and fraud in defense acquisitions and have spent significant resources attempting to reform and improve the process. These frustrations have led to numerous efforts to improve defense acquisitions. Despite these efforts, cost overruns, schedule delays, and performance shortfalls in acquisition programs persist. A number of analysts have argued that the successive waves of acquisition reform have generally yielded limited results, due in large part to poor management by the acquisition workforce. In recent years, a renewed consensus seems to have emerged around the importance of improving the acquisition workforce as a critical part of any comprehensive acquisition reform effort. A 2014 compilation of expert views on acquisition reform published by the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs (Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations) identified four themes, two of which deal exclusively with the acquisition workforce: While the experts who participated in this project offered a variety of views, a few common themes emerged ... the Subcommittee notes the following 1. Nearly half of the experts feel that cultural change is required while over two-thirds believe improving incentives for the acquisition workforce is necessary for reform. 2. Two-thirds of the contributors feel that training and recruiting of the acquisition workforce must be improved. 3. Nearly half believe that DOD needs to attain realistic requirements at the start of a major acquisition program that includes budget-informed decisions. 4. More than half of the submissions noted the need for strong accountability and leadership throughout the life-cycle of a weapon system.... Recent legislation has also emphasized the importance of a robust and effective acquisition workforce. The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2016 included more than 10 provisions specifically geared to the acquisition workforce. Given the current focus on acquisition reform and the role of the workforce in the success of the acquisition system, it is useful to explore exactly who is in (and who is not in) this workforce, and recent efforts by Congress to improve its performance. Broadly speaking, the acquisition workforce are those uniformed and civilian government personnel, working across the Department of Defense and in more than a dozen functional communities (including technology, logistics, and contracting), who are responsible for identifying, developing, buying, and managing goods and services to support the military. Generally, the acquisition workforce consists of uniformed and civilian personnel who are either in positions designated as part of the acquisition workforce under the Defense Acquisition Workforce Improvement Act (10 U.S.C. §1721); in positions designated as part of the acquisition workforce by the heads of the relevant military component, pursuant to DOD Instruction 5000.66; or temporary members of the acquisition workforce or personnel who contribute significantly to the process, as defined in the Defense Acquisition Workforce Development Fund (10 U.S.C. §1705). 10 U.S.C. §1721 required the Secretary of Defense to promulgate regulations designating "those positions that are acquisition positions," and required that acquisition-related positions in the following fields be included in the definition of the acquisition workforce: DOD instruction 5000.66, entitled Operation of the Defense Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics Workforce Education, Training, and Career Development Program, implements 10 USC §1721 and governs the establishment and management of the acquisition workforce. Pursuant to the law, the instruction directs the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics (AT&L) to identify "appropriate career paths for civilian and military personnel in the AT&L workforce in terms of education, training, experience, and assignments necessary for career progression." It also requires the heads of DOD components (i.e., Component Acquisition Executives) to designate the positions that make up the acquisition workforce. Defense Acquisition University publishes the AT&L position category descriptions on their website. All acquisition workforce billets designated by Component Acquisition Executives must fall within one of these categories. Within each military service, the Director, Acquisition Career Management (DACM) is responsible for tracking the acquisition workforce personnel data. This data is consolidated in the central AT&L database DataMart. The authorities in 10 U.S.C. §1705, the Defense Acquisition Workforce Development Fund (DAWDF), states that, only for the purpose s of the s ection , the term acquisition workforce includes personnel who are not serving in a designated position, but (A) contribute significantly to the acquisition process by virtue of their assigned duties ; and (B) are designated as temporary members of the acquisition workforce by the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics, or by the senior acquisition executive of a military department, for the limited purpose of receiving training for the performance of acquisition-related functions and duties . (Italics added.) While considered part of the workforce for the purposes of DAWDF, personnel falling into these two categories are not included in the total count of the acquisition workforce. As 10 USC §1705 acknowledges, a number of activities critical to successful acquisitions—such as requirements development and budgeting—are performed by personnel who are not part of the formal acquisition workforce. As DOD Instruction 5000.02 states, Stable capability requirements and funding are important to successful program execution. Those responsible for the three processes at the DoD level and within the DoD Components must work closely together to adapt to changing circumstances as needed, and to identify and resolve issues as early as possible. The text box below describes selected personnel who are not included in the official acquisition workforce, but perform important acquisition-related functions. In addition to these personnel, contractors, a number of whom support program offices and acquisition processes, are not considered part of the acquisition workforce. The recent report by the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (discussed above) reinforces the importance of non-acquisition personnel who are critical to successful acquisitions. As mentioned above, the first two themes focus on the general culture and management of the acquisition workforce. The other two themes highlight specific perceived shortcomings of the acquisition system that are beyond the control of the acquisition workforce: the need to develop realistic and stable requirements, and the need for strong leadership and accountability throughout the life-cycle of a weapon system . To the extent some of the most widely recognized problems affecting the acquisition system are controlled by individuals who are outside of the acquisition workforce (such as requirements development, requirements stability, and budgeting), reform efforts focusing primarily on the acquisition workforce might have only limited effects. In considering approaches to acquisition reform, the acquisition workforce could be thought of more broadly, to encompass those personnel who exercise influence and play critical roles in the acquisition process. According to DOD, as of December 31, 2015, the defense acquisition workforce consisted of 156,457 personnel, of which approximately 90% (141,089) were civilian and 10% (15,368) were uniformed (see Figure 1 ). The acquisition workforce currently consists of 14 distinct career fields. As of December 31, 2015, almost half of the acquisition workforce (45%) fell into two career fields: engineering or contracting ( Figure 2 ). Between FY1989 and FY1999, the acquisition workforce decreased nearly 50% to a low of 124,000 employees. The declines are attributable in large part to a series of congressionally mandated reductions between FY1996 and FY1999, which ranged in reductions from 15,000 to 25,000 employees each fiscal year. These cuts reflected Congress's then-view that the acquisition workforce size was not properly aligned with the acquisition budget and the size of the uniformed force. A number of DOD officials and researchers have asserted that the workforce downsizing in the 1990s led to shortages in the number of properly trained, sufficiently talented, and experienced personnel, which in turn has had a long-term negative effect on defense acquisitions. These concerns have persisted despite subsequent increases in the size of the workforce over time. For example, in 2014, DOD officials asserted that workforce size has not kept pace with the increasing amount and complexity of the acquisition workload. Between FY2008 and the first quarter of FY2016, the acquisition workforce grew by 24% (30,434 employees) (see Figure 1 ). These gains are partially attributable to an initiative launched by then Secretary of Defense Robert Gates in April 2009, which sought to significantly increase the size of the acquisition workforce by FY2015. According to DOD, the Department accomplished its strategic objective to rebuild the acquisition workforce (from 126,000 in 2011 to over 150,000) despite major barriers such as sequestration, furloughs, and hiring freezes. Officials also stated that DOD certification and education levels have improved significantly: currently, over 96 percent of the workforce meet position certification requirements and 83 percent of the workforce have a bachelor's degree or higher. In addition, DOD "has reshaped and positioned the workforce for future success by strengthening early and mid-career workforce year groups." According to DOD, from 2001 to 2015, the size of the acquisition workforce increased by approximately 21%. Over the same period, DOD contract obligations (adjusted for inflation) increased at approximately 43% (see Figure 3 ). The definition of the acquisition workforce, and the methodology for counting the workforce, has evolved over the years. As such, historical data on the size of the acquisition workforce prior to FY2005 may contain inconsistent measures from year to year. For a discussion on the reliability of data drawn from the Federal Procurement Data System, see CRS Report R41820, Department of Defense Trends in Overseas Contract Obligations , by [author name scrubbed] and [author name scrubbed].