Military Deputy to ASA(AL & T) addresses Army Acquisition workforce issues and initiatives.

When Army Lt. Gen. Joseph Yakovac Jr., took over the position of Military Deputy (MILDEP) to the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology (AL & T) in December of 2003, he decided to take the first six months of his three-year tenure to focus on the military and civilian people who make up the Army Acquisition Corps. He announced that people and the personnel system would be his initial primary objective, even at the expense of other important issues.

The result has been a new plan that Yakovac hopes will bring the Acquisition Corps more in line with the challenges in managing and monitoring the career progression of a large, diverse workforce as well as the current pace of Army acquisition as it exists today.

Yakovac spoke at the Defense Acquisition University (DAU) at Fort Belvoir, Va., on April 16, in an open forum with members of the National Capital Region's AL & T workforce. He talked about his goals and objectives for the future of the Army Acquisition Corps and addressed current topics impacting the acquisition community at large.

"I have strong opinions, and at times, I act the 'benevolent dictator,'" said Yakovac. While some of his decisions, he noted, are made without universal agreement, he is initiating changes that, based on his personal experience, are necessary.

A New Vision for Senior Leaders

In his first week as MILDEP, Yakovac implemented a major change from his predecessors by deciding not to serve as the senior rater for every program executive officer in the Army. His personal style of leadership, he explained, dictated that he rate only those with whom he had much greater interaction and direct communication, and the MILDEP position precluded this sort of relationship. Additionally, Yakovac said, he wanted to see leaders from across the acquisition community serve as senior raters, thus involving them in the process of selecting the next generation of general officers.

As he reviewed the career paths for 0-6 officers, Yakovac noted a startling fact: for the past few years, almost all 0-6 officers--about 75 percent--had been centrally selected for command opportunities. The central selection average for an Army officer at large was between 25 to 30 percent. These Acquisition Corps command selects, he noted, were "voting with their feet" by declining command opportunities in significant numbers, suggesting that maybe these selections were not providing a real "opportunity" after all.

Yakovac determined to drive down the number of centrally selected command opportunities to fall within the army-wide average. Reducing the number of command selects, he explained, would allow such a selection to serve as an indicator of potential when an 0-6 file is reviewed by the general officer board. Now, according to Yakovac, a job previously identified as "command-select" can be offered as a good job in a good location that should attract the right person rather than forcing command-selects to accept the job regardless of location or duties.

Rethinking Job Descriptions

Yakovac said he recently dedicated an entire week to reading every Army position listed on the Military Acquisition Position List (MAPL)--as "painful" as that was. Gaining a thorough knowledge of how members of the Acquisition Corps are being employed, however, reinforced to him that people are too often used as a resource where no one may be considering what that "resource" is being asked to do. Many of the job descriptions were written over a decade ago, he noted, with little thought as to the needs of a future organization; often, the original "birthright" number of acquisition officers has remained steadfast despite changing organizational goals and structure. Yakovac cautioned that in the future organizations accustomed to an automatic renewal of their supply of acquisition officers might find their mandate had been reduced from a standard 10 to perhaps only two, or whatever appeared applicable to their current mission.

After spending time reviewing every Army AL & T position, Yakovac said he has gained a good idea about where all 1,640 + MAPL positions are located and what is expected of acquisition officers. Some current slots are expected to be converted to civilian slots; others will be downgraded or deleted. He added that the attrition will occur over the next few years as these positions transition naturally; people will not be moved out of positions ahead of schedule to accommodate reorganizations.

Yakovac hopes to retain an acquisition footprint in places where the presence of acquisition professionals makes a difference in decisions as they pertain to the Army at large. He stated that an increased presence on the Joint Staff would be helpful, and he does not anticipate any reduction of presence in the Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC), although restructuring may occur.

Developing Acquisition Professionals in a Larger Framework

Considering what the AL & T workforce expects is an important component in managing the Acquisition Corps, Yakovac said,. He talked about an informal survey that was issued to the Acquisition Corps that focused on basic questions:

* Do you think that the job you are in is professionally rewarding?

* If you were to be replaced, and your replacement called you to discuss your position, would you recommend your job?

The survey received over 600 responses, mainly from people serving in their first job. The results made clear that people were not always getting what they had signed up for; many, he noted, were being used in other ways, but not in a fashion that focused on learning and reinforcing acquisition skills.

Yakovac described a major change in the way acquisition professionals are developed by outlining a plan to establish regional networks that would develop and educate the acquisition workforce by exposing individuals to a variety of postings. He described a current study that is considering establishing a system that would post people to a region rather than a specific assignment; acquisition leaders within each region would then be responsible for establishing a rotational plan for each acquisition officer that would provide a solid range of experience and education, and prepare the acquisition officers to comfortably handle a variety of PM taskings as they progress through a career. This breadth of experience, he predicted, could prove pivotal in creating successful officers and future leaders.

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Yakovac commented that he was finding the civilian acquisition workforce "harder to crack" than their military counterpoints because of legislative constraints, but he nonetheless envisions an incentive system under which the Army's 40,000 + civilian acquisition workforce members might be better motivated. Civilian acquisition professionals, he advised, need to anticipate greater movement in their careers in the future; and those that are willing to compete for the most prestigious advancements would be those that are willing to shoulder such tasks as relocating. Yakovac predicted that a new and better system would emerge that could track civilians willing to make such career shifts and provide them specific opportunities accordingly.

A Note on Specialization 

Yakovac noted that there are perhaps too many acquisition professional qualifiers, and that perhaps the corps has become over-stratified; for example, he questioned whether the "T" or testing qualifier was necessary given that most acquisition professionals should be able to perform tasks associated with this specific qualifier. He also focused on the increasing need for the "C" qualifier: contingency contracting. This requirement has grown almost overnight in importance, and now constitutes a large part of what the Acquisition Corps does, he stated. Furthermore, recent TRADOC guidance has defined the Armored Unit of Action breakout as including a requirement for contingency contractors; such emerging needs, he said, underscore the need for the modern acquisition professional to be adaptable. "Jobs and job descriptions," he emphasized, "can't remain stuck in the way the organization once operated."

Summarizing, Yakovac said. "In the final analysis providing product to soldiers is the only reason acquisition professionals exist; to do so successfully, the Acquisition Corps must be flexible and have a workforce that can handle the constant change that is a modern reality." He added that in addition to serving the warfighter, acquisition professionals must also be given a meaningful professional experience. Yakovac has publicly vowed to ensure his workforce is given the tools and environment necessary to achieve both goals.

Cavoli is a freelance writer/editor currently providing contract support to Defense AT & L magazine.