Defense Acquisition Management

Defense Acquisition Management is a "reader," that is, it is a collection of articles on various aspects of Defense Acquisition Management. It was prepared by the faculty of the International Defense Acquisition Resource Management (IDARM) program, a division of the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School's School of International Graduate Studies. It is the initiative of Dr. Elisabeth Wright, the IDARM Program Manager. The name for the IDARM program was not chosen without careful thought. The program is intended for an international audience, and therefore focuses on the practices of the U.S. system only where it employs or embodies a "best practice" that can have universal application.

Acquisition resource management describes the program's integrated approach to defense program management, defense contracting, and defense logistics management. The chapters in this book encompass the core components of the IDARM Program curriculum: acquisition management, which includes systems engineering and, within it, requirements determination and logistical planning; the negotiation of contracts and agreements, as well as the settlement of disputes; and procurement and contracting processes. It also includes two chapters on specialized subjects in defense acquisition: research and development, and U.S. weapons sales to foreign governments.