Defense Acquisition Professionals Complete Immersive Innovation Program

The Defense Acquisition University recognized the latest graduates of an immersive program designed to provide defense professionals with the tools and insight needed to effectively bridge the gap between the Defense Department and innovative commercial technology providers.  

Six contracting officers from across DOD successfully completed the 12-month Immersive Commercial Acquisition Program, which officially launched in 2022 as part of a collaboration between DAU and the Defense Innovation Unit.  

The two organizations created ICAP after recognizing the need to keep pace with commercial product cycles and adopt best practices for commercial procurement within DOD. 

Kirstin Riesbeck, DIU's deputy director of people, finance and management, underscored the critical role that the partnership between DIU and DAU plays in shaping the defense acquisition workforce of the future.

"Today is a really good example of what partnerships can do," Riesbeck said as she congratulated the graduating cohort.

"The partnership between DAU and DIU provides defense acquisition professionals the tools and insights needed to bridge the gap between DOD and these leading-edge commercial technologies," she said.

This year's graduates include Air Force civilian contracting officers Brittany Harris and Christine Docker, Navy civilians Rebecca Lingenfelter and Tianna Seaman, Army civilian Ralph Barnes and Defense Information Systems Agency civilian Shaun Bright.

The ICAP curriculum combines virtual classroom with experiential learning through the execution of prototype projects.  

The program was designed with four goals: 

• Educate and provide top DOD contracting officers with experience on how to effectively acquire innovative commercial technologies from nontraditional defense contractors.  
• Provide experience and insight into how the commercial market operates and what drives an organization to do business with the government and DOD. 
• Empower change agents and arm contracting officers with the relevant tools and knowledge to craft acquisition, contracting and negotiation strategies that can effectively incorporate commercial technology and nontraditional vendors into DOD's acquisition ecosystem. 
• Provide organizations with trained contracting officers who can also train others to be fluent in the innovation ecosystem and network with their counterparts in other service components.

The program is one of several programs within DIU to ensure its professionals remain well positioned across the defense acquisition ecosystem to drive change and solve DOD's most pressing challenges, Riesbeck said.

"At DIU, our ethos is rooted in being disruptors on the team - a short but storied legacy of thinking differently, of taking calculated risks and building those networks that are crucial to make sure we succeed in the future, both across the department and with the private sector," she said.

She added that a core component of DIU's mission is building skills and resources within the acquisition community to ensure DOD remains on the cutting edge of technology.

"All of those skills and resources are instilled here at DAU and practiced at DIU," she said. "This helps us solve our nation's toughest challenges."

Frank Kelley, DAU's acting president joined Riesbeck in congratulating the cohort.

"What you are going to do is going to be critically important to our acquisition enterprise in the future," Kelley said.

Following the graduation ceremony, Riesbeck and Kelley were joined by John M. Tenaglia, the principal director, defense pricing, contracting, and acquisition policy, within the Office of the Secretary of Defense for a discussion on innovation in DOD.

Tenaglia said that he was "inspired" by getting a chance to celebrate the new ICAP cohort.

"I look forward to supporting you all in not only the policies that my office provides for our community, but the tools [and] the resources that enable these people to really set the path ... for the department and how we can innovate to win," he said.

During the webinar, Riesbeck discussed the DIU-led Defense Innovation Community of Entities working group representing more than 30 organizations across DOD.

A key focus of the working group is talent management, and Riesbeck said the working group is undertaking several initiatives aimed at professional development across the defense innovation ecosystem.

Those initiatives include the development of a department-wide innovation badge for DOD personnel to recognize the unique innovation competencies obtained through both coursework and experience.

"That is something that lives within your personnel record," she said in describing the credential. "That's something that is permanent that shows you made these accomplishments, you have this experience and the skill set. And that will follow you through your entire career."

Riesbeck said further details about the initiative will become available over the course of the next year.