Understanding the program manager's role: Defense Systems Management College develops new course for DCMA - Program Management

Program Manager, March, 2002 by Jose Fernandez, Armond Darrin

Twenty-five Defence Contract Management Agency employees are better equipped to support program managers after completing a new course designed to expose Program Integrators and the Program Support Team to life as a program manager.

The Defense Acquisition University (DAU) developed the one-week course for DCMA last year. The most recent offering, held Feb. 25-March 1, at DCMA St. Petersburg, Fla., immersed DCMA employees in the program manager world by providing a hands-on orientation to the business and technical challenges facing program managers.

"DCMA is committed to providing the PM with high-level, quality support," said Army Brig. Gen. Edward M. Harrington, DCMA Director. "This course helps convey to DCMA professionals the challenges confronting Army, Navy, and Air Force PMs on a daily basis--and why on-site support can truly make a difference."

Support to the program manager is a fundamental and critical element of the overall DCMA mission. A Program Integrator is assigned to each Acquisition Category (ACAT I and II) program to focus the DCMA Program Support Team efforts on cost, schedule, and performance issues. The Program Integrator is responsible for ensuring timely insight, actions, and recommendations for the program manager to promote successful program execution.

"I now have a lot better appreciation for the value of our on-site role to the program manager community," said Kat Sizemore, a Program Integrator who completed the St. Petersburg course.

DCMA teaming with the customer starts with customer engagement on Acquisition Planning and Support Services. This pre-award support ranges from acquisition strategy formulation and request-for-proposal structuring, all the way to past performance evaluations and source-selection participation. It extends throughout contract performance, beginning with a well-documented Memorandum of Agreement (MOA). The MOA identifies key program risk elements requiring special DCMA attention, as well as discrete program outcomes and sub-outcomes deemed critical by the program manager during various stages of the program.

Why Develop the Course?

To promote the proper teaming environment within DCMA, Program Integrators and Program Support Team members must fully understand the breadth of the PM's responsibilities.

"For DCMA to be value-added in the eyes of the PM, we must first internalize and appreciate the challenges faced by the PM on a daily basis in today's acquisition environment," said Harrington.

In the summer of 2000, Navy Capt. Michael Tryon, DCMA West District Commander, and DCMA Headquarters representatives met with Dr. Robert Lightsey, Chair, DAU Systems Engineering Management Department, and Dr. Martin Falk, Systems Engineering Professor, to explore developing a course for DCMA Program Integrators and Program Support Team members across the country. The course would promote a greater understanding of the program manager's responsibilities and challenges.

In short order and with superb support from Lightsey and Falk, along with Tryon and DCMA Headquarters Program Support Team members Armond Darrin and Navy Cmdr. Max Snell, the first weeklong pilot was underway.

In April 2001, Army Col. Mark Brown, DCMA Baltimore Commander, hosted "Understanding the Program Manager's Role" in Baltimore, Md. Thirty students representing multiple contract management disciplines from different DCMA field sites, along with several Program Integrators, participated in the pilot.

The Course is Hands-On

The course is technically oriented and uses a hands-on approach, as students are introduced to the systems-engineering view of program management. In-depth discussion of topics such as requirements analysis, the progression from solicitation to contract award, and project management are also part of the curriculum. Lessons learned in earned-value management, configuration management, functional analysis and design, risk management, design tools, technical reviews, and best-value trade-offs are all woven into a team project.

Each course offering consists of approximately five teams per class, and the last day includes a live-vehicle test, followed by a discussion of performance trade-offs and best-value analysis.

Building the Advanced Unmanned Ground Vehicle (AUGV)

Many educational programs use tools such as models and simulations to reinforce learning objectives. All of the technical management subjects covered in the course such as design, risk management, and technical reviews come to life by having the students actually perform them while they go through the process of designing, developing, and testing a simulated mine-detection vehicle called the AUGV, or Advanced Unmanned Ground Vehicle.

The vehicle is built from a kit originally developed by Lego Corporation, in cooperation with the Massachusetts institute of Technology Students are required to develop a concept, build it, complete software programming, and test their product against the requirements of a system specification.

The students are introduced to the AUGV prior to arriving at the course. All receive a packet of information that includes a letter from the AUGV Program Office notifying them that their respective contractor teams have been awarded an AUGV prototype contract. Operating within their own Program Support Team, the students assume the role of a contractor; five teams then compete in the design, development, and testing of their AUGV prototypes.