Aligning DAF with Program Management Industry Standard

Reed Schafer, “Aligning DAF with Program Management Industry Standard”, Air University Wild Blue Yonder, 2023, https://www.airuniversity.af.edu/Wild-Blue-Yonder/Article-Display/Article/3470201/aligning-daf-with-program-management-industry-standard/

With great power competition increasing in the Pacific, the United States of America in this decade may be drawn into a prolonged conflict with the People’s Republic of China – the likes of which have not been seen since World War II. The Department of Air Force acquisition community plays a significant role in this outcome. Its current culture has been plagued with an overly risk-averse culture, a bloated bureaucracy, and poor cost, schedule, and performance of developing and fielding its critical weapon systems necessary to fight and win in tomorrow’s battles. One factor that would improve this obstacle is empowering its Program Managers through proper integration of industry-standard training and development. While many of the top-performing companies integrate the international gold standard Project Management Professional® certification into their Project/Program Manager's career progression, the Department of Air Force does not. Since training and development are central to program execution, the United States Air and Space Forces must seek to empower their members with the very best. With key directives such as the National Defense Strategy calling for reform of the acquisition community - integrating the Project Management Professional® certification into their military/government career progression will help improve developing and fielding defense capabilities.