Since 2008, DoD has spent $3.5 billion through a dedicated fund to help recruit and train its acquisition workforce but there has been uncertainty over policies for using the fund, with one result being that large amounts of available money have been carried over unspent from year to year, GAO has said.
DoD acquisition personnel are responsible for purchasing $250 billion in goods and services annually, a report said, but that workforce suffered from “significant cuts” during the 1990s, with the combined military and civilian total dropping by 14 percent to about 126,000. The Defense Acquisition Workforce Development Fund was created as a dedicated source of funding for rebuilding capacity, improving quality, and rebalancing the workforce, which had come to rely more heavily on contractors.
However, GAO found that components have been uncertain regarding the allowable uses of the fund—for example, whether they can use the fund to pay salaries of employees involved in administering it—and they did not always verify the accuracy or completeness of data on the initiatives the fund supports.
The report said DoD has taken several actions to improve its use of the fund including issuing an updated acquisition workforce strategic plan and guidance on using the fund.
Of the money spent to date, about 60 percent went toward recruiting and hiring, about 30 percent for training and development, and the rest for retention and recognition.
Meanwhile, components have identified more than $3 billion in potential funding requirements over 2018-2022 “which may exceed available funding over this period.”
