§1722 Career Development

Summary

The Secretary of Defense must create and publish clear career paths for military and civilian people who want to work in acquisition. The paths must show what education, training, experience, and job moves are needed to reach the top acquisition jobs. The Under Secretary for Acquisition and Sustainment helps with this. The Secretary must not favor service members for acquisition jobs unless a policy finds the job must be filled by a service member because the law requires it, the job needs military status to do the work, or there is another strong reason. The Under Secretary must give the Secretary, by December 15 each year, a list of any acquisition jobs limited to service members and a recommendation on whether they should stay limited. Civilians must be given chances to get the education, training, and experience needed for senior acquisition posts. The rules must aim to pick the best qualified person, while following other laws. The Secretary must set policies for assigning military people to acquisition jobs that balance career broadening with keeping people in a job long enough to do it well; military services should, where appropriate, make acquisition assignments longer than other jobs. People in the same acquisition career field must be allowed to review and add comments to a colleague’s performance appraisal. When making civilian workforce rules, leaders must consider keeping a balanced workforce so women and racial and ethnic minorities are properly represented, consistent with merit system principles.