HANSCOM AIR FORCE BASE, Mass. -- Myriad courses will be available during the fall Air Force Life Cycle Management Center Focus Week, Oct. 23 to 27.
As organizers want to make the courses available to as many personnel as possible, once again, there are both local classes offered on site and ones available via distance learning through Defense Collaboration Services. There are both general courses, and those focused on specific areas, such as logistics or finance.
“The acquisition environment changes rapidly, and we want to offer courses personnel need or want to enhance their professional development,” said Brooke Belickis, AFLCMC Focus Week program manager.
Some of this session’s distance-learning offerings are: “Introduction to Open Architectures,” which will provide an introduction to open architecture concepts, terms and a brief overview of several open architecture efforts; “Cyber/SSE Health Assessment,” covering the methodology to assess acquisition practices for cyber health and system security engineering; and “From Lincoln’s Law to Electronic Parts – Fighting Procurement Fraud,” will examine the efforts taken to combat federal procurement fraud in pursuit of civil, criminal, administrative, and contractual remedies. Case examples will be presented, with special attention given to the infiltration of counterfeit electronic parts into the Department of Defense Supply Chain, the subsequent Senate Armed Services Committee investigation, and the resulting statutory and regulatory changes.
There is also a class, “Being Competitive vs Checking Boxes,” intended for employees seeking upward mobility: promotion, increased responsibility or competitive selection for development opportunities, particularly junior members of the workforce.
Courses onsite at Hanscom include “Intro to Acquisition Intelligence,” which will address the role of intelligence in acquisition. It will cover governance, processes and Hanscom’s acquisition intelligence capabilities and resources. “Conducting Successful Integrated Baseline Reviews (IBRs),” will discuss how to conduct successful IBRs that are required whenever Earned Value Management is used to monitor contract performance. The training will review basic EVM concepts and cover the IBR process, purpose and goals, and what to expect at the review. It will also address key benefits of the IBR process. Also offered will be “How to make RMF [Risk Management Framework] Easy for C2 [Command and Control] Programs,” a round table discussion with the C2 Security Control Assessor discussing what C2 programs need to focus on in order to efficiently and effectively get through the assessment process.
In order to provide the most spaces to personnel, organizers ask that if a local course is offered in addition to distance learning, that employees attend in person at their site.
“We try to offer a variety of both functional and general courses that are of interest to our workforce,” said Belickis. “Take advantage of them to expand your current knowledge or gain knowledge in a new area. And in many cases, you can earn valuable continuous learning points.”
To view a listing of the entire Focus Week schedule, or to register for a class, go to the Acquisition Now Continuous Learning website at https://www.atrrs.army.mil/channels/acqnowcl/ and search for AFLCMC Focus Week under “Apply for a CL event.” Step-by-step instructions are available at https://cs2.eis.af.mil/sites/22005/wkdev/focus/Lists/Announcements/Attachments/9/Applying%20for%20Courses%20in%20AcqNowCL.pptx.
Belickis said that contractors may attend Focus Week courses as long as their government lead approves and their contract does not prohibit it, however some classes are inherently governmental. Other courses may discuss items that are managed by a different contractor, and attendance by an outside company could provide an unfair competitive advantage. In those cases, it is up to the course point of contact to approve contractor attendance.
“We use focus weeks to help create and maintain a strong learning culture,” said Belickis. “Take advantage of the opportunities.”
For more information about AFLCMC Focus Weeks, contact Belickis at 937-255-0865.