Staff and faculty from Defense Acquisition University respond to critical national mission.

Faculty and staff members from the Defense Acquisition University are providing ongoing support to the Iraq Program Management Office (PMO), a component of the Iraq Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA). The PMO was commissioned to provide oversight, management, and execution of the infrastructure reconstruction effects in Iraq. Under intense pressure to expedite award of the $18.6 billion supplemental appropriation--a mission they took on in November 2003--DAU team members Garry Shafovaloff, Linda Neilson, Lyle Eesley, Larry "Scoop" Cooper, and Bart Morrison have devoted countless hours and contributed considerable subject matter expertise to this critical national mission.

From the inception of the CPA-PMO, Deidre Lee, the Director of Defense Procurement and Acquisition Policy (detailed to the CPA for three months as Deputy for Operations), looked to Garry Shafovaloff and Linda Neilson to provide key leadership roles; craft innovative acquisition strategies; manage the coordination and integration of reconstruction project requirements with CPA-Baghdad and Office of the Secretary of Defense; resolve interagency development issues; respond to congressional inquiries; and coordinate policy with the White House. Eesley and Cooper continue to support the PMO and Sector PMO source selection process. Eesley also serves as the technical team chief for the source selection team. Morrison continues to provide support to the Construction Contracting Team serving as the lead knowledge management officer and workforce development specialist.

Army Sgt. Maj. Steve Gebert, DAU South Region, was activated for Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF), and served as Kuwait Aerial Port of Debarkation (APOD) Operations coordinator from March to May 2003. From May to September he served as an action officer building daily and updated situation report briefings for the Central Command (CENTCOM) Regional General Staff, participated in those briefings, and worked distribution control and movement logistics actions. Since returning from OIF, Gebert has been involved in building an Operational Logistics Case Exercise based on his OIF experience for inclusion in LOG-304. He has also been working on an article identifying key logistics shortfalls, how they were overcome in the Iraqi War, noting what went well, and any recommendations for systemic change.

During summer 2003, a DAU team provided exceptional performance support and rapid response to the Army's request for immediate instructional assistance for soldiers awaiting deployment orders, with an immediate need for training in both the CON-100 arena and in CON-234 (Contingency Contracting). Team members included Philip Deaton, DAU South; Ronald Fontenot, DAU South; Debbie Johnson, DAU Midwest; Air Force Maj. Michael McGhee, DAU Midwest; Air Force Lt. Col. Ralph Mitchell, DAU South; and Pamela Oxendine, DAU Midwest. In less than 21 days, this small team worked tirelessly to deliver a nine-day targeted training course that met the learning objectives of both courses in the constrained delivery time, while receiving high marks for quality and delivery from the warfighters.

Army Sgt. James W. Colbert, a member of the Video Services Department, Operations Group, DAU main campus, at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, was tasked with a critical assignment in support of the Iraq Infrastructure Reconstruction Office. Under intense pressure to deliver the finished product to soldiers awaiting deployment to Iraq, he edited, enhanced, encoded, and published over 20 hours of 18 separately recorded sessions of instruction in Contracting. Most notably, he did so in only four working days, receiving praise for the quality of his work and his efforts in delivering just-in-time training to the nation's warfighters.