More general billets created in acquisition, contracting By Rick Maze Air Force Times November 10, 2008 In a move that could encourage more military officers to pursue careers in weapons management, Congress has agreed to allow more general and flag officer bil­lets to be created in the acquisition and contracting fields. Exactly how many would be created is left to the Defense Department. For several years, Congress and the Defense Department have been encouraging officers to make a career of weapons management, but the field has held little attraction for midgrade officers who do not see the appeal of a job that involves understanding complex regulations on weapons research, development and production, and often arcane contracting processes. Under provisions of the 2009 Defense Authorization Act, which became law Oct. 14, the Defense Department must craft a new acquisition management career plan for how to develop and assign military personnel. In the report accompanying the bill, lawmakers said they want to “ensure that a sufficient number of acquisition and contracting billets are re­served for general and flag officers with appropriate qualifications.” The law authorizes five additional Army acquisition slots for general officers. It also gives the chairman of the Joint Chiefs the power to exclude five joint-duty billets for flag and general officers from counting against statutory limits on the overall number of senior officers, and orders that one of the excluded jobs be the head of the Defense Contract Management Agency. The services already have acquisition corps or specialties, but Congress has ordered new policies that lay out career paths for both officer and enlisted members that include command or senior non­commissioned officer positions — providing a way to keep advancing in rank and responsibility while serving in the acquisition field. While the services generally are responsible for managing their own flag and general officers, Congress has given the defense secretary responsibility for having enough acquisition billets re­served for senior officers in each service so that enough promotion opportunities exist to encourage people to take repeated assign­ments in the field. Acquisition billets for flag and general officers would be required in unified commands, defense agencies and field activities and in the Defense Department, under the law. Dangling stars in front of officers to build a career force is nothing new. When Congress demanded more officers serve in joint-service assignments in the mid­1980s, for example, the plan worked only because joint-duty experience became a prerequisite for promotion to one-star rank. The plan worked so well that the services several times had to expand their definition of a joint­duty tour in order to satisfy the demand from officers who wanted assignments that could help them become admirals and generals (Archives)