Former Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development, and Acquisition (ASN RD&A) Sean Stackley delivers a keynote address via Zoom on the second day of "Creating Synergy for Informed Change: Transitioning Technology to the Warfighter," the Naval Postgraduate School's 22nd Annual Acquisition Research Symposium & Innovation Summit on May 8, 2025. Photo by MC2 Janiel Adames.
Written by Michelle V. Johnson
What does it take to successfully accelerate the transition of technology and capabilities to the warfighter? In a word, people. And more specifically, a talented acquisition workforce that is trained, incentivized, provided top cover, and rewarded for delivering solutions at the speed and scale necessary in a dynamic threat environment.
Dozens of presentations at this spring's 22nd Annual Acquisition Research Symposium & Innovation Summit footstomped the importance of the acquisition workforce, with keynote speakers and senior defense leaders arguing that these people are a “national treasure” of public servants dedicated to the mission of protecting the nation. Indeed, a good workforce can overcome existing obstacles and challenges in any system, potentially even eradicating the need for larger reforms.
As Sean Stackley, the longest serving Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development, and Acquisition, said during his keynote address, “We don’t need more policy or regulation, or even streamlining. We need more good people.”
But how can the world’s largest bureaucracy develop “more good people” in the acquisition workforce at a time of unprecedented change? DoD needs to balance two goals: fostering the kind of independent thinking that often defines creative problem solving, and promulgating the specific tools, techniques, and strategies that reward and incentivize such behavior on a large scale. Major General Robert Barrie, the Army’s Deputy for Acquisition and Systems Management, described the need this way: “We want the people that instead of navigating the team around the obstacle in the process, we want the leader that's going to blow the obstacle in place so that it's not just they got through it, but everyone else gets through it behind them.”
Several speakers noted the importance of giving acquisition professionals firsthand experience with the capabilities they are procuring early in their career. As Stackley said, in the Navy that means “pushing people in the direction of the waterfront in terms of designing and building the future weapons systems.” Driving such a learning process earlier in people’s careers means that “by the time they're being called upon to step into the breach, they understand what's coming, what direction it’s going to be coming from, and are prepared to deal with the challenges and the issues while keeping their eye on delivering the product.”
Geoffrey Bryce shared how the Navy’s Strategic Systems Programs (SSP) office gives acquisition professionals experience with three different acquisition approaches in the programs SSP manages: traditional ACAT I systems, middle tier of acquisition programs, and programs employing rapid prototyping or rapid fielding. This range of experience allows the workforce “to bring those skills across to the different programs and challenge our thinking in the way that we're going after the acquisitions.” They also hold contracting excellence workshops to share lessons learned, encouraging professionals to consider what applies to their programs.
Moshe Schwartz took another angle on the topic during his panel’s discussion on the defense industrial base. He reflected on a gap in both consolidated knowledge and reform effort with this observation: “I’ve read at least 50 or 60 reports that have been written dating back almost a hundred years on acquisition reform, and they almost all start the same way: ‘The acquisition workforce is the most important element of acquisition. Now let's talk about something else.’ And I have yet to see the panel or the commission on the acquisition workforce. … If workforce is really the most important thing, maybe we should be spending a little bit more time digging into that.”
One of the symposium’s plenary panels addressed some of that knowledge gap with an update from the service directors of acquisition career management (DACMs), a long-standing tradition of the event that gives a snapshot of the 166,000 members of the defense acquisition workforce. Leaders shared the latest information about such topics as the composition of the workforce, training and education opportunities, and challenges being faced by the services and the fourth estate.
Ms. Renee King, the Navy’s incoming Director, Acquisition Talent Management, described her office’s work with the 55,000 members of the Navy’s acquisition workforce (noting that numbers have fallen from this total as people have taken the deferred resignation program). The Navy uses tools like acquisition excellence awards to recognize high performers and the Naval Acquisition Development Program to provide targeted training experiences. One of the most popular education opportunities is the “understanding industry” courses offered at University of Virginia at Darden and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Professionals learn topics such as how to read industry financials and how to communicate with industry better—knowledge useful to contracts personnel, business financial managers, and across the workforce.
One of the challenges currently facing these teams is the current reduction in force, which is having an outsized effect on acquisition professionals. The Army, for example, is looking at a 25% cut, and Army DACM Ronald Richardson shared that this means the service is losing both those workers near retirement, with decades of experience, and younger members who are not yet fully invested in public service. Both Richardson and King agreed that the challenge facing their offices now is how to retain the workforce they have, shifting from a previous emphasis on recruitment that may be renewed when the hiring freeze ends.
A few speakers described efforts to educate the acquisition workforce with a particular focus on encouraging innovative thinking. Lolita Horne and Jonathan Barkand discussed the Defense Acquisition University’s Innovate to Win playbook, an interactive online tool that anyone, not just acquisition professionals, can complete to both self-assess and learn about innovative practices. And in the same panel, Amanda Girth of Ohio State University shared research demonstrating how organizations can shift innovation from hyperlocal one-off occurrences to repeatable, scalable practices that create a culture of innovation.
Throughout the two-day symposium, there was a clear consensus that organizations are making robust efforts to intentionally support and develop the acquisition workforce, and that researchers are invested in tracking the outcomes and sustainability of those efforts. As the home for this symposium, Naval Postgraduate School brings together these important and diverse perspectives – not just at events like this, but through the world-class defense-focused graduate education the school provides. In particular, the acquisition and management courses offered by NPS’ Department of Defense Management regularly engage students in precisely these conversations.
As the entire Department of Defense shifts to focus on more quickly transitioning technology to the warfighter, the acquisition workforce will be challenged to adapt to a faster operational pace and increasing demands for efficiency. By embracing opportunities to deepen their expertise in areas such as weapon systems, warfighting solutions, commercial business processes, and innovation, these professionals can feel more confident in buying the right capabilities and delivering them at the right time.
To read papers and presentations from any of these panels, visit the Defense Acquisition Innovation Repository (DAIR).
To view the full panel discussions, visit the Acquisition Research Program’s YouTube channel.
