Navy appoints deputy assistant secretary to oversee weapons acquisition workforce

WASHINGTON, 29 June 2008. The U.S. Navy is establishing a position of principal civilian deputy assistant secretary of the Navy for acquisition workforce (PCDASN AW) to handle all workforce issues related to research, development, and acquisition.

James E. Thomsen is taking this position, says John S. Thackrah, acting assistant secretary of the Navy for research, development and acquisition.

Improving and reinvigorating the acquisition workforce is a major focus of the Navy's acquisition governance initiative to improve the process of weapons acquisition.

"The overriding objective of acquisition governance is to implement changes that will facilitate our ability to make better decisions early in the acquisition process," said Navy Secretary Donald Winter in a keynote address at the Sea Air and Space Exposition in March.

Navy leaders are examining their acquisition workforce to better understand short-term and long-term staffing shortfalls and capability gaps to help the Navy and Marine Corps maintain technical authority within their systems commands.