Message from the Army director, acquisition career management.

Our Army is at war and simultaneously moving toward a future force. We face many new challenges and must ensure our limited military acquisition assets are in positions to best meet the Army's needs and provide the necessary experience to prepare our majors for product and project management, and acquisition commands. We must also ensure our LTC and COL positions reflect current and future requirements, not the past. In an effort to meet these challenges. I plan to chair a review of all active component military acquisition positions from March 22-26, 2004. Participation is expected from the senior most personnel during this timeframe. Again, it is imperative that we use a holistic approach to career development as well as meeting the needs of the Army so that we can better focus resources in a timely manner.

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The FY05 Military Acquisition Position List (MAPL) Review will review all Army Functional Area 51 requirements and develop an Order of Merit List (OML) for the FY05 MAPL. At the conclusion of the FY05 MAPL Review and prioritization, the number of authorized positions will match the total number of MAPL positions.

The FY05 MAPL Review will use the Table of Distribution and Allowances/Military Table of Organization and Equipment (TDA/MTOE) as a baseline. The MAPL position must be supported by a valid MTOE/TDA authorization. The current MAPL has grown such that the relatively small inventory of officers cannot support the additional position requirements. Commands may identify high priority requirements for which no authorizations exist but must be prepared to identify a billpayer to support such a requirement. However, requirements without a billpayer authorization will be evaluated to determine if they warrant movement of another authorization to support the position.

I cannot over emphasize the importance of conducting a thorough analysis and update of your positions. The quality and accuracy of previous MAPL position descriptions and information has varied greatly between organizations. Proponency officers at the Acquisition Support Center are available to assist in your analysis.

Specific instructions on the FY05 MAPL Review will be distributed under separate memorandum to your command and subordinate command acquisition points of contacts. The FY05 MAPL will be approved and disseminated in May 2004.

My point of contact is LTC Dwayne Green, commercial [phone], DSN 655-1334 or e-mail: [e-mail].

JOSEPH L. YAKOVAC

Lieutenant General, GS

Military Deputy to the Assistant Secretary of the Army

(Acquisition, Logistics and Technology)