| Acquisition Corps | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Active | 1989–present |
| Country |  United States of America |
| Branch |  United States Army |
| Type | Military acquisition |
| Role | Product development, fielding, and support |
| Motto(s) | Pactum Excello |
| Colors | Black |
| Commanders | |
| Principal Military Deputy OASA (ALT) | LTG Robert M. Collins |
| Insignia | |
| Branch insignia |  |
| Branch plaque |  |
The United States Army Acquisition Corps (AAC) is the officer / NCO corps of the United States Army Acquisition Workforce (AAW), a branch which includes civilians, officers, and NCOs.[1][2] The Acquisition Corps is composed of army officers who serve in acquisition, a specialized form of product development, fielding, and support and Noncommissioned Officers who specialize in Contracting, Level I Program Management and Purchasing.[3][4][5] These officers begin their careers in the other branches of the army for eight years, after which they may elect the Acquisition branch as their career as assistant program managers (APMs), program managers (PMs), and program executive officers (PEOs).[6] (A PEO can be civilian.) The Noncommissioned Officers (NCOs) are reclassified in the Army Acquisition NCO Corps after serving 7-10 years in their respective enlisted career management fields, and serve primarily in the Army Acquisition Career Management Field - 51 and (MOS) 51C. 4% percentage of the Army Acquisition Officers serve among the 40,000 members of the army acquisition workforce, 6% in MOS 51C - Acquisition, Logistics and Technology Contracting Noncommissioned Officer (Active, Reserve and National Guards), and the remainder 90% percentage consist largely of Department of the Army civilians.[1]
The director of the Army Acquisition Corps, currently a lieutenant general, also serves as principal military deputy (PMILDEP) to the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics, and Technology or ASA(ALT). The PMILDEP is also director of combat systems for Army Futures Command (AFC), by Army Directive 2018-15.[7][8] The Office of ASA(ALT) has a direct reporting unit (DRU) which is denoted the U.S. Army Acquisition Support Center (USAASC). An office within USAASC, DACM ensures the professional development of the Acquisition Workforce as well as the Officers / NCOs corps itself, including the recruitment of suitable Captains, Majors, Staff Sergeants and Sergeant First Class into the pipeline of courses at the US Army Acquisition Corps School of Acquisition Excellence, Huntsville, AL and Defense Acquisition University (DAU). DAU certifies the 150,000-member Defense Acquisition Workforce, including the Army's Acquisition workforce of 40,000 civilians, officers, and NCOs (MOS 51C).[1]
| Army Acquisition Workforce[1] | 40,000 | Army role | |
|---|---|---|---|
| % | count | ||
| USAASC | 12 | 4800 | acquisition support |
| Army Corps of Engineers | 18 | 7200 | combat service support |
| Army Materiel Command | 60 | 24000 | materiel provider |
| ATEC | 4 | 1600 | test and evaluation |
| Other | 3 | 1200 | low density acquisition |
| MEDCOM | 2 | 800 | combat medical equipment |
| SMDC | 1 | 400 | space and missile defense |
- ^ a b c d 96% of the Army Acquisition Workforce are civilian
- ^ Dr. Bruce D. Jette, ASA(ALT) (April 30, 2019) From the AAE: Building the Army Acquisition Team New Army Talent Management system: proposals for getting PhD-level officers into AAW
- ^ ASA(ALT) Weapon Systems Handbook 2018 Page 32 lists how this handbook is organized. 440 pages.
- By Modernization priority
- By Acquisition or Business System category (ACAT or BSC). The Weapon systems in each ACAT are sorted alphabetically by Weapon system name. Each weapon system might also be in several variants (Lettered); a weapon system's variants might be severally and simultaneously in the following phases of its Life Cycle, namely — °Materiel Solution Analysis; °Technology Maturation & Risk Reduction; °Engineering & Manufacturing Development; °Production & Deployment; °Operations & Support
- ACAT I, II, III, IV are defined on page 404
- ^ Andrew Gonzalez and Stephen Rodriguez (28 Jun 2021) Nothing left in the tank: The state of the Pentagon's supply chain
- ^ Mandy Mayfield (7 October 2020) JUST IN: Pentagon to Streamline Software Development AAF (Adaptive acquisition framework) now adheres to the updated DoD 5000.01 policy approved in September 2020 by Ellen Lord's lead, the Deputy Defense Secretary David Norquist
- ^ Viv Olo (28 Jan 2021) Capability Statement for Government Contracting Capability: 'the ability to perform or achieve some desired outcomes'
- ^ Army Directive 2018-15 U.S. Army Futures Command Relationship With the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Acquisition, Logistics and Technology) and DCS G-8, 27 August 2018
- ^ Army Directive 2018-15, section 6b: "PMILDEP will additionally be AFC director, Combat Systems"