Career Navigator: Are you relevant?

By Mr. Michael Bold, USAASCDecember 14, 2017

usa image
(Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

DAWIA requires career-long education for AAW members; it's up to you to make the most of it.

"Intellectual growth should commence at birth and cease only at death."

― Albert Einstein

And if you're a member of the Army Acquisition Workforce (AAW), intellectual growth in the form of continuous learning is just as it sounds―continuous. When the Defense Acquisition Workforce Improvement Act (DAWIA) became law in 1990, it envisioned a professional acquisition workforce that was not only well-educated in the acquisition process, but also constantly upgraded that education.

The Continuous Learning Policy was enacted to make certain that, for members of the AAW, education was a career-long process. AAW members must acquire 80 continuous learning points (CLPs) every two-year period--two fiscal years. The current CLP period began Oct. 1, 2016, and ends Sept. 30, 2018.

The Army Director for Career Management (DACM) Office suggests front-loading a "glide path" of CLPs:

• 45 CLPs acquired during the first six months.

• Five more by the end of the first year (for a total of 50).

• 10 more at the 18-month mark (a total of 60).

• The final 20 to finish the two-year period at the required 80 points.

That's according to Scott Greene, chief of the Leader Development Branch of the Army DACM Office. "A lot of people wait until the last couple of months," he said. "We strongly suggest workforce members, in coordination with their supervisors, develop a training plan."

Points are awarded for academic and training courses, including courses required for DAWIA certification; professional activities related to acquisition such as exams, licenses or certificates; teaching or lecturing; making presentations at or attending symposiums or conferences; and writing for publications (such as Army AL&T). While there are guidelines for point credits, it's up to each supervisor to make the decision on point awards. Points can only be awarded for the fiscal year in which they were accomplished.

Selecting which CLPs to pursue should not be a random exercise, Greene said. "It shouldn't be about the amount you do; make it about the quality."

Remember, Greene said: You're your own best career manager. If you find a program you like, add it to your Individual Development Plan (IDP) and discuss it with your supervisor. (For more on IDPs, see "The Individual Development Plan," Army AL&T, July -- September 2017, Page 101.) "Make it about something you want to do," he continued. "If you've already got your certification, continuous learning is about making sure you're still relevant. … Make it relevant to your actual job."

Multiple avenues to pay for training are available to the AAW: command training funds, career program money for civilians, central funding opportunities and the Defense Acquisition Workforce Development Fund.

It's up to each employee to keep track of CLPs, which is easy to do on the IDP, accessible through the Career Acquisition Personnel and Position Management Information System (CAPPMIS) portal at https://rda.altess.army.mil/camp/. CAPPMIS also contains all the information employees need to access training funds, Greene said. (A Common Access Card is needed to log in.)

Supervisors play a key role in continuous learning. They must provide adequate time for the continuous learning activities and help the employee plan and document their CLPs. A new dashboard feature on the January update to the IDP uses a "stoplight" color scheme to signal, among other things, the employee's CLP status. For CLPs that don't automatically enter into CAPPMIS, your supervisor can agree on the CLPs claimed, or decide that more or fewer CLPs are merited.

The Army DACM Office tracks CLP compliance at the organizational level, not for individuals. Supervisors, acquisition career management advocates and organization acquisition points of contact receive monthly email blasts on their organization's compliance level.

For more information, go to http://asc.army.mil/web/dacm-office/.

This article will be published in the January -- March 2018 Army AL&T magazine.

Related Documents:

Recommended CLPs [PDF]

Related Links:

U.S. Army Acquisition Support Center

U.S. Army DACM Office

Army AL&T Magazine