Defense Acquisition University, Navy College, and Naval Postgraduate School create synergy in defense management courses

Defense AT&L, Jan-Feb, 2005 by Tom Edison

In March 2003, the San Diego, Calif., campus of the Defense Acquisition University moved into its refurbished classroom facilities at the Fleet Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) Training Center, Point Loma, Calif. Shortly thereafter, DAU began forging training relationships. In approximately 17 months, the DAU campus has partnered with the Fleet ASW Navy College at Point Loma and the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) in Monterey, Calif., creating a defense management educational triad that is meeting or exceeding the academic and training needs of the military and civilian communities in San Diego.

The first partner in the educational triad, DAU, provides a varied curriculum of defense acquisition training in 13 career fields to its military, civilian, and industry acquisition, technology, and logistics customers. In fiscal year 2005, the DAU San Diego campus will offer a total of 275 courses at sites throughout the West Region, which includes 13 western states and the Pacific Rim. Approximately 125 courses will be offered in San Diego, an increase of over 50 classes from fiscal 2004.

The second triad partner is the NPS, which conducts daylong courses in executive master of business administration (EMBA) and master of science in systems engineering (MSSE) graduate programs in its video-conferencing-equipped, dedicated classroom in San Diego. The NPS currently conducts three classes of EMBA at ASW Point Loma with a total of 44 students enrolled. The first MSSE class in San Diego began in September 2004, and has 31 students enrolled.

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The third partner of the educational triad, the ASW Navy College at Point Loma, provides evening educational programs through contracts, memoranda of understanding, or agreements of services between the Navy College office and accredited local colleges and universities. San Diego City College and National University currently provide undergraduate courses in sociology, English, history, education, business, and mathematics/statistics to the local Navy active duty and civilian population. The two colleges use the same classrooms that NPS and DAU use during the day.

DAU, NPS, and Navy College have found the right mix of student accessibility, staff support, resource availability, and leadership focus to establish a synergy that allows them to deliver an impressive array of defense management education and training.

Officially opening the San Diego campus at a ribbon cutting ceremony in January 2004, Frank J. Anderson, DAU president, said, "About two years ago, Michael W. Wynne, acting under secretary of defense for AT & L, asked that DAU look at ways to team and partner so that we leverage the dollar invested in learning. It is a lot better for the DoD community when we can create a facility that can be used by more than one DoD organization. So I am really excited about what has happened here in San Diego."

Edison is logistics and sustainment academic chair, DAU West Region, San Diego, Calif. For more information, contact Tom Edison at tom.edison@dau.mil or 619-524-4815.