Acquisition Leadership: An Opportunity Lost for Acquisition Excellence?

The Defense Acquisition Management System (DAMS) has continued to be questioned in terms of delivering cost-effective and timely complex weapon systems that meet warfighter requirements. As a means to improve this ongoing dilemma, this article posits that increased attention across the acquisition community should be paid, not to improved processes and procedures, but to leadership. The importance of leadership competency is reviewed from the perspective of the Services' Professional Military Education institutions. As the organization responsible for training the Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics Workforce on the complexities of the DAMS, the Defense Acquisition University is called upon to improve its entry- and mid-level course offerings associated with acquisition by providing meaningful instruction regarding foundations of leadership competency. Pub. in A Publication of the Defense Acquisition University, 1st place, p158-181, Apr 2010.