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Other name | DAU |
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| Established | October 22, 1991 (1991-10-22) |
Parent institution | US Federal Government,Department of Defense |
| Accreditation | COE,IAECT,ACE |
| Budget | $220 million |
| President | Bilyana Anderson |
| Vice-president | Frank L. Kelley |
| Location | , U.S. |
| Website | www |
TheDefense Acquisition University (DAU) is acorporate university of theUnited States Department of Defense offering "acquisition, technology, and logistics" (AT&L) training to military and Federal civilian staff and Federal contractors.[1] DAU is headquartered inFort Belvoir, Virginia, and is accredited by theAmerican Council on Education (ACE),International Association for Continuing Education and Training (IACET) and theCouncil on Occupational Education (COE).[2]
The University Charter was created in October 1991 byDepartment of Defense (DoD) Directive 5000.57. Originally a loose consortium of existing training commands, DAU worked to standardize the training courses and establish mechanisms that allowed for centralized management of training funds for the DoD workforce.
In the late 1990s, the consortium arrangement was replaced by a centralized structure, more like that of acorporate university. By 2014, DAU had grown to the point of graduating 181,970 students.[3]
DAU was headed by a Commandant until the year 2000 when it became a civilian institution, and since then the chief executive position has the title "President." DAU's Commandants and Presidents have included William L. Vincent (1991–1993),Claude M. Bolton (1993–1996), Richard A. Black (1996–1997), Leonard Vincent (1997–1999), Frank J. Anderson (1999–2010),Katrina McFarland (2011–2012), James P. Woolsey (2013–2024), and Bilyana Anderson (2024–Present).
DAU is headquartered atFort Belvoir, Virginia, and serves the approximately 160,000 members of the defense acquisition workforce. DAU also has several other locations across the United States as well an online presence. These locations include:[4]
Applicants must have a current affiliation with theUnited States government in order to attend training courses offered by DAU. TheUnited States Military Services and the DoD have internal registration and quotas for DAU instructor-led courses, while the Federal Acquisition Institute (FAI) accepts applications and registers most non-DoD students.
U.S. Federal employees anddefense contractors may attend DAU courses at no cost when space is available, and may enroll in DAU's Defense acquisition credential learning pathways, and in online courses. DAU charges tuition only to certain foreign students.[11]
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TheDefense Acquisition Workforce Improvement Act (DAWIA) requires Defense Acquisition Workforce members to be certified for the positions they hold. DAU offers training courses for all Defense Acquisition Workforce members in seven functional areas and at three certification levels.[12]
Functional Areas:
TheAmerican Council on Education (ACE) assigns ACE credits to various DAU courses. DAU coursework can apply toward college and universitydegrees and certificates at some partner institutions.[13]
TheDefense Acquisition Guidebook (DAG) is a text developed to aid in the understanding and implementation ofUnited States Department of Defense Acquisition practices under the DoD Directive 5000 series. This text, also available in web-accessed electronic format and web-structuredHTML basis (seehttps://aaf.dau.edu/guidebooks/) provides insight to a life cycle view and functional roles within the lifecycle of acquisitions.[14]
In 2002, the DOD 5000.2-R became the Interim Defense Acquisition Guidebook.[15]
DAU instructors are available to consult and assist acquisition organizations in the design and review of processes and internal training when they are not teaching. They can also provide workshops and specific topic instruction in areas of interest or concern tailored to a specific organization.
In July 2011, a hacking incident occurred affecting DAU's Web-based training site. This incident occurred on a vendor's network that provided the learning management system's underlying source code[16] and inhibited access to online courses for almost two months. While DAU was not hacked, U.S. Cyber Command (U.S. CYBERCOM) evaluated the risk level to DAU's system based on the incident that occurred on the vendor's network, and temporarily suspended online training courses to secure the system and protect students' personal information.
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