The Defense Department has “made some progress” in rebuilding the size and skills of its acquisition workforce, but still needs to identify a better way to “determine the effectiveness of its training ” in order to improve acquisition outcomes, according to Government Accountability Office auditors. Pentagon officials have “recognized that rebuilding its acquisition workforce is a strategic priority,” state the auditors in a new GAO report, issued Wednesday. They note that building workforce skills and expertise is just as important as increasing the acquisition workforce’s size. While defense officials have made progress in completing competency assessments, the auditors assert that additional metrics are needed to gauge the impact of training. The auditors do not make any new recommendations because defense officials, for the most part, already are implementing most of GAO’s suggestions from prior assessments, states the report.
LIVE: Caine Leads Global Toast to the Doolittle Raiders
April 17, 2026
Continuing a 80-year-long Air Force tradition started by Gen. Jimmy Doolittle and his fellow Raiders in 1946, the Air & Space Forces Association, Air Force and Space Force units, and AFA members around the world are raising a glass to the anniversary of the legendary Doolittle Raid.