Meeting Experience Standards

Acquisition experience, general and/or specialized, is required for:

• Certification in the various acquisition functional areas. Each certification tier within an acquisition functional area carries an experience requirement ranging from 1-8 years depending on the functional area and tier. The requirement may be listed as specialized acquisition experience, general acquisition experience or a combination of the two.

• Acquisition positions may carry statutory and/or regulatory experience requirements. Some acquisition positions such as the Program Manager of a Major Defense Acquisition Program may require specialized and/or general acquisition experience. These requirements can be found in the Defense Acquisition Workforce Program Desk Guide..

The difference between general or specialized experience is simply how the experience is articulated in the standard.  For example, if the requirement simply states “acquisition experience” then any creditable acquisition experience meets the requirement.  If however, the requirement states the functional area or type of experience such as “in the …. functional area ” or  “… years of experience as a Program Manger”  then it is considered specialized and the person evaluating the experience must consider how the experience was accumulated.

Creditable DoD acquisition experience can come from any of the following sources:

• Experience Gained from a Designated DoD Acquisition Position
• Experience Gained from a Non-Designated DoD position
• Experience Gained from Other Government Agencies
• Experience Gained from Private Industry
• Holding an acquisition enhancing Baccalaureate degree or higher (Education Credit)

Experience Gained from a Designated DoD Acquisition Position

• All the time served in a DoD designated acquisition position counts.
• Unless otherwise tracked and specified or addressed by appropriate authority within the component, this time is also credited as specialized experience in the functional area assigned to the position. 

Experience Gained from a Non-Designated DoD Position

• Time served within DoD when the position is not designated as an acquisition position may be credited if the acquisition work (as described in one or more of the Acquisition Position Category Descriptions) was a significant and substantial part of position.  In order to be considered, the applicant must describe the work performed and provide any additional information that will help the approving authority arrive at an appropriate decision. 
• Ultimately, the service/agency has the discretion to grant credit for some, all or none of the non-designated DoD, Federal and/or industry experience.

Experience Gained from Other Government Agencies or Private Industry

• Experience gained from service in another government agency may be credited if upon assessment; the individual performed acquisition-related functions.
• The approving agency and workforce member should retain documentation as to the nature of the work, the duration of the work and the percentage of time spent doing the work as in non-designated DoD positions.

Holding an acquisition enhancing Baccalaureate degree or higher (Education Credit)

• Individuals with an acquisition enhancing Baccalaureate degree or higher, (those degrees listed as the education standards for any of the DAWIA Certification and Development Guides may be credited with twelve (12) months of acquisition experience.) 
• Multiple acquisition enhancing degrees do not result in multiple credits.
• The experience should be applicable to the functional area most associated with the field of study of the degree.  

Counting Acquisition Experience

• Acquisition experience is always counted in terms of years and/or months of experience.
• Creditable acquisition experience is always applied to one of the specified acquisition functional areas.